


Of Detentions and Mixed Signals

by Aeneid



Category: Gintama
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Heavy Angst, High School, Japanese Culture, Mild Language, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-26
Updated: 2014-09-08
Packaged: 2017-12-13 00:58:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 35,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/818084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeneid/pseuds/Aeneid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt request fic based on an AU setting. Kagura never really liked being in detention, especially if the person she's with happens to be the person she hates the most. Heavy hints of GinTsuki included. Rated for Kagura's foul mouth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted over at Tumblr and Fanfiction.net.
> 
> This fic is a prompt request from Rin of Tumblr (her current URL is rintama). She wanted a fic based on Class President!Sougo x Delinquent!Kagura, but I ended up adding GinTsuki to the mix because of reasons.
> 
> I hope everyone will enjoy this fic. I struggled with this, and I hope it will be to your liking.
> 
> This is an AU fic, and not based on the 3Z Universe. Lastly, this is not my usual okikagu fic, so please be warned.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. It belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

* * *

Of Detentions and Mixed Signals

* * *

She dreaded going to detention.

Not that it was her first time to do so, but the one who was going to keep an eye on her would be the student council president, who also doubled as the president of their class, and the guy whom she really couldn't stand.

Okita Sougo was a total jerk who was a show-off, a fake, and an asshole while no one was looking. She had always bore the brunt of his bad attitude, as he seemed to love picking on her. Because the asshole was the epitome of perfection in their school, he was always careful not to expose his jerkass side, and she took advantage of this fact by provoking himself endlessly. She had been labelled as a 'delinquent' by him and his stupid fangirls because of her crazy antics, but she hardly cared about such. Better a delinquent than a slut, she always said.

It was just too bad that she stopped her antics a week ago after the fangirls had gone too far and pushed her down the stairs, resulting in a broken arm that would take weeks to heal. With her arm now in a cast, her dominant arm was now rendered useless, and before long, Okita began calling her a 'dumbass'.

_Guess that jerkass is too thick not to realize that his fangirls nearly killed me._

It was yet another unfortunate incident wherein he had been the one who found her while she was silently crying in pain from the fall. After sending her to the clinic and accompanying her to the hospital until her guardian-slash-father arrived, he had started whispering the words 'dumbass' whenever possible. It had gotten out of hand when it became an everyday occurrence, until he had gotten out of hand with his insults. The thinly-veiled insults became blatant, and before she knew it, the whole school had joined in with the name calling.

So incensed was she that one day, while Okita Sougo did his rounds, before he could open his mouth to insult her, she had used the cast on her dominant arm to bash his pretty face, resulting in him bleeding from the nose and his face bruising pretty badly. Her actions resulted in her getting a whole week's detention, but she gave no fucks.

The satisfaction she felt after seeing his pain face was worth it.

Sure, she had to make an alibi to her dad as to why she had to be late in going home for the whole week, but it was because she didn't want him to worry too much. He was too busy with being a daddy, and she didn't want to add her problem to his own.

_Well, whatever. Two more days, and I'm done._

On her second to the last day of detention, something… weird happened between her and the student council president.

Something unexpected, weird, and… mind boggling.

* * *

" _Aho Sakata_."

That was his usual greeting to her whenever she got inside the detention room, and whenever they met each other at school. More often than not, she would roll her eyes at him and glare, but this time around, she kept her eyes on the ground and sat on the chair carefully. Her casted arm was irritating her despite it being part of her for two weeks already, and as much as she wanted to remove the damn thing already, she couldn't. It would take four more weeks for her bone to heal, and that would mean more hardship on her part. It didn't help that she had to use her left hand to do  _everything_ , from writing notes to eating. Her penmanship was yet another issue that Okita turned into a big deal, as well as her clumsy way of handling chopsticks, but that didn't stop her from trying to stab him with either a ball-point pen or her disposable chopsticks when no one was looking.

"What, no insults today?" he taunted.

_Ignore him, Kagura. He's not worth it. Think of later, when you get home… babies!_

Her [step] mommy (she didn't care if the gorgeous lady was her stepmother. Family was family.) Tsukuyo had given birth to twins on the week she had her arm in a cast. Coincidentally, she had been sent to the very same hospital where Tsukki was staying, and that helped Gintoki quite a lot in dividing his time between her and his wife. Kagura, in her own way, had taken care of her siblings, though she had yet to carry them in her arms. A broken arm was unsafe when it came to handling new-borns, and that was the last thing she wanted to happen.

_Well, time to practice my sucky penmanship._

She picked up a pen from the desk, and opened the penmanship book that was laid out before her, until Okita banged his hand on her desk. "Oi, are you listening to me?" he yelled.

"What now? I'm busy." She said, refusing to look up and was concentrating on writing the hiragana character 'a' until he took the pen away from her. "Hey!"

"Glad I got your attention." With her head still down, he placed a hand under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "What's with you, Sakata? Scared to look at me?"

"… I don't like seeing your face, that's all." It was true.

She hates him so much.

So much that looking at him made her sick, and she just wants to bash him head against the table over and over again. It might make her feel better, but she knew her anger towards him would never  _ever_  fade, even if he begged for her forgiveness.

In her mind, Okita Sougo is a total asshole, and is beneath her.

"Heh. Seems like you're the only girl who doesn't like my face."

"Who wants to see it looking like it went through a disaster?" even though his nose was still okay, the bruise had not yet faded.

"Nothing like a few kisses from girls to make it feel bearable." He boasted while she mentally gagged at the thought of dozens of girls kissing him.

"Man-whore." She mumbled under her breath, knowing that he wouldn't catch it. Out loud, she asked, "Are you done? I'd like to get back to my writing book, and I only have fifty-five more minutes to do 'a' until 'ho'."

"And deprive me of my fun?" he gave out a harsh laugh. It was disgusting seeing the student council president drop his mask of politeness and suddenly become a jerkass behind the scenes. "That means I only have fifty-five minutes left to torment you."

She rolled her eyes. "If that's the case, then I'm going home."

"You're gonna get in trouble if you leave early." He reminded her. "You're at my mercy, Sakata—"

"Do whatever the hell you want, Okita, I don't give a fuck anymore." She slapped his hand away. "Hell, I should probably not go to school tomorrow so I don't have to see your disgusting face for the meantime." With that, she stood up, and was about to push her chair back to the desk when he suddenly grabbed her nape and slammed her face against the desk. "What the hell—"

"You're not leaving, Sakata." Came the harsh tone. "You're not gonna deprive me of my fifty-five minutes."

_This guy… is officially a jerkass in my dictionary._

"What the hell are you planning to do?" she asked calmly, readying her leg to kick him wherever she could land it when he pinned her by using his body weight against the desk. "Shit, let me go, you bastard—"

"I told you that you're not allowed to deprive me of my fifty-five minutes—"

"Go suck a dick!" she screamed as she struggled to free herself. "I hate you! I FUCKING HATE YOU! GO TO HELL AND DIE, ASSHOLE!"

"Hey, that's uncalled for—" he said, but it didn't work. In fact, it incensed Kagura further.

"Fuck you, Okita Sougo! I fucking hate you!" she repeated angrily, trying to elbow him away from her. "Leave me alone and stop wasting my time! Being in the same room as you sickens me, and I hate your guts!"

"… You hate me, huh…" Kagura nearly laughed at him sounding so surprised, but she was too pissed to do so.

"What, you think I  _enjoy_  listening to you insult me?" she sounded very incredulous. "You're delusional if you think I like spending my time with you! I'd rather spend it well with my babies—"

"Babies…?"

"None of your business." Kintarou and Kaguya were none of his business, and it had been her mistake to blurt it out. "Get off me! I'm going home!"

"Do you really hate me, Sakata?" he asked.

Her response was instantaneous. "Of course I hate you." she huffed. "Get off of me, I'm going home and—" just as she was turning her head to yell at him some more, the unexpected happened.

Okita Sougo had grabbed her by the collar of the sailor uniform, slammed her against the chalk board, and raised her left hand above her head, pinning her wrist. Kagura had raised her leg to kick him, anything to get him off her, but he had used his body to pin her down. She tried to break free, but the damn ass was using his body weight to make sure she wouldn't move too much.

"Fuck you, Okita Sougo. Go to hell. Fucking die already, you useless piece of sh—" before she could even continue her insults at him, the jerk bent down (the damn guy was taller than her by more than four inches), and kissed her.

On her lips.

Cliché as it may sound, it was her first kiss, and as much as she hated to admit it, she believed in those 'sacred first kiss' rules that a lot of shoujo manga heroine subscribe to. So much for her romantic first kiss, as the guy she hated so much just stole it without breaking a sweat. The thought of her losing it to the person whom she couldn't stand had upset her to the point that she felt her strength leave her, and to her shock, she felt her knees give way, but not enough for her to fall down, as Okita had managed to catch her.

"Now, do you forgive me—" before he could continue his sentence, his blood red eyes widened all of a sudden.

Sakata Kagura, her mouth was hanging open, as staring at him in shock as tears began flowing freely from her eyes. The sight of her  _crying_  would've made him grinned as he knew that his plan to shock her had worked. Sougo had been planning to kiss her as a joke right after she told him that she hates him. It was unheard of, a girl hating him, as he himself knew that his good qualities outweigh the bad, and surely, Sakata was no exception. He had it all planned out: he would kiss her, then ask her if she still hates him, and if she still said he hates him, he would kiss her until she gave in. It worked on all of the girls he had been with, and one kiss was enough for them to melt and accept his apology.

Sakata, though, was now crying silently as she stared into god-knows-what, and somehow, he felt bad all of a sudden. "Oi—"

 _D-Don't show a-any signs of weakness,_ she sternly reminded herself as she blinked back the tears that were threatening to roll down her eyes. The last thing she needed was Okita taunting her for her tears, and she was in no mood to deal with his childish antics. Clearing her throat, she tested her left arm, and was about to be able to break free until Okita had noticed her intention and pinned her down further.

"You're not going  _anywhere_." He warned her.

Any girl who was pinned down by this jerk would've probably swooned at the sight of him pinning her down, so she did the best thing she could think of right now: turn her head to the side and ignore him until he got tired of her and let her go. Unfortunately for her, Okita was determined to force her to pay attention to him. "Sakata, you still have forty minutes to entertain me."

_Oh, so that's what he calls detention now. What a man-whore. Probably does this to all the girls in detention._

"Go entertain yourself. I have a lot of things to do." She said sharply, testing his hold on her once more.  _'No good, he still has quite a grip.'_

What she'd died to get superhuman strength right now to beat the shit out of him and  _not_  be a  _normal girl_  whom he could easily pin down.

"Oi, look at me—" he grabbed the collar of her uniform to force her to face him, and the first thing that greeted him were a pair of azure eyes blazing with so much fury. "… What, you didn't like that kiss—"

"The last thing I want is a kiss from your disgusting lips." She hissed. "With all those girls you've kissed, I'd rather not be part of those brainless idiots who think you're all that when you're just an ass who plays the part of the perfect student council president."

"Why you—"

"And you think I'd change my mind after that? You're stupid enough to have that kind of mind set, and lemme tell you again that I fucking hate your guts. You understand?! I fucking hate—" her rant had been cut off when he proceeded to kiss her again. She had pressed her lips together in an attempt to deter him, but he was persistent.

"Open your mouth." He demanded.

"Fuck no—" goddamn it, it had been a trick when he goaded a response from her just so she would open her mouth and retaliate. Okita had pressed his lips once more, and with her mouth opened, he proceeded to force his tongue inside her.

The feeling of his tongue inside her mouth sickened her that she nearly gagged, and she had been tempted to do so just to stop him from doing all this disgusting things to her. As much as she wanted to bite his tongue off, she had suddenly lacked the strength to fight him back, and as much as Kagura hated to admit it, he was successful in whatever it was that he had been planning.

When he had paused to pull away from her, her retort was ready.

"Hope you had fun with that stunt of yours." She said, sarcasm dripping heavily with every word.

"… What, you're still not gonna forgive me—"

At this, she used her full body weight to slam him, and had been rather successful, as she had managed to knock him to the ground. "Leave me alone, Okita Sougo. I'm tired to dealing with you." She whispered before running to the door, sliding it open, and running back to the classroom where she had left her bag. She heard footsteps behind her, and she knew he was trying to follow her. Gasping to herself, she slid open the door to her classroom…

… and found her father, Sakata Gintoki, waiting for her inside the classroom.

"G-Gin-chan…!" she screamed, running towards him and latching herself towards him, tears finally flowing freely from her eyes. It was a relief that he was there, though it had shocked her to see him. "W-w-what are you doing here…?"

"Tsukki told me to fetch you. Now I know you're a big girl already, but the damn woman has been forcing me to get my ass off the couch." The perm-haired dad of hers sighed, looking very irritated. "I was peacefully reading my JUMP and letting Kintarou sleep on my chest when she told me to go and pick you up and buy baby supplies."

"T-t-that's nice of mommy…" she said in between hiccups, discreetly wiping her eyes on the dress shirt he was wearing. Gintoki had probably not yet changed after work, as he was still clad in his usual  _salaryman_  outfit.

"Ready to go?" he asked, grabbing her bag from her desk. "The babies are waiting."

"Y-yeah." She decided that leaving her workbook in the detention room was fine, as she did it a couple of times before. No one really cared if she left her workbook there, as everyone in the whole school knew. "Let's go."

Just when they were about to exit the classroom, in came the student council president, his poker-faced expression on. "Sakata, where are you going?"

"Extend her hours tomorrow, will you?" Gintoki asked, looking very bored. "We're in a hurry."

"Let's go, Gin-chan." She said, gripping her hand around his arm. The older man, noticing that his daughter had never  _ever_  acted like this before, took her left hand, and intertwined his fingers with her own. "Weren't we supposed to buy supplies for the twins?"

Gintoki nearly laughed at the sight of the young man before him who looked like he was going to kill him on the spot. Gintoki stood a whole lot of inches over him, but the killing intent in the younger man's eyes would probably be enough to knock him off his feet. "Oh, silly me, I forgot. Anyway, let's get going. Excuse us." He said, leading his daughter out of the classroom, her school bag on his left shoulder. When he was sure they were out of earshot, GIntoki whistled in relief, "That guy looked like he wanted to kill me."

"No doubt about it. You whisked me away from being his playtoy, dad." She huffed angrily. "He should leave me alone, that ass."

Gintoki shook his head, still at a loss as to how his daughter, at the age of sixteen, was still clueless about boys. It was pretty obvious that the guy earlier was jealous, but she just had to fuel his rage more by mentioning her twin siblings, and he probably misunderstood the whole thing. "… What's that guy's name anyway?"

"Okita Sougo." She replied automatically.

"I see." Gintoki smirked to himself, internalizing the information that his daughter had just given.

Tsukuyo was going to have a field day over this, he was sure of it.

* * *

Where the hell did he go wrong?

The plan was perfect. He had five days to push through with his plan, but each time he was about to start, her azure blue eyes would look up at him with contempt, and he would back down. Insults worked, but he knew deep inside that Sakata Kagura was hating him more and more with what he did. He really felt bad that she broke her arm because of him, and he was really planning to show her how, he blanched at the word, sorry he was.

… Why the hell didn't  _shoujo manga_  stuff work in real life?

He would've had her if only it had work.

_Good work, Sougo. She wouldn't even look at you. And she probably informed her sugar daddy about it, and you'll get beaten to a pulp one day._

The thought of her  _married_  to some guy years older than her surprised him, but when she mentioned  _kids_ , that did him in. if there was one thing that shoujo manga were right on, it was those marriages between school girls and older men, and while those girls in fiction hid the true status of her relationship, Sakata had blurted it out loud, and did not feel an ounce of shame over her declaration that she had  _twins_  with the guy.

He felt like crap right now.

Sakata Kagura was out of his reach, she hates him, and…

… And he was a total ass for not treating her right.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakata family moments + Okita being clueless as usual.

Kagura was still in a foul mood when she got home to the three-bedroom apartment a few minutes away from her high school. She has always loved this apartment; it had been the place where Gin-chan and her had been living in for quite some time. Tsukuyo had been living with them for quite some time until she had permanently become a member of the family when they found out that she was expecting twins. What made her love the apartment was that place was lovely, and each room had a balcony, so whenever she had one of those moments wherein she wanted to enjoy the night sky, she would sit by the balcony outside her room. Another thing was that the place she lived in had a park nearby, and she went there sometimes whenever she noticed that her parents needed “privacy”.

She still couldn’t get over the fact that they had managed to wake her up one night when she was twelve because of their ‘nightly activities’.

And she was a heavy sleeper, mind you.

“Where’s mom?” she asked after removing her shoes by the doorway.

“Sleeping, obviously.” Gintoki said, carrying the huge shopping bags after sloppily removing his shoes by the  _genkan_. “Thanks for the help, kiddo. You really saved me the trouble.” He said, referring to her helping him pick out the correct diaper brands and the twins’ milk.

“No worries.” She shrugged. “I don’t want mom pissed off at dad, then they start fighting, then they’ll wake up the twins and then my peace and quiet just disappears.”

“Oi, don’t bully your siblings when they’re not within hearing range… and they don’t know what’s going on.” For added measure, Gintoki punched her lightly on the head, making her yelp.

“The hell was that for?!” she screeched, only to be punched in the head again.

“For being noisy. You’ll wake them up.”

Kagura rolled her eyes. “Fine then. I’ll just be in my room. Call me when it’s time to eat.” With that, she headed off to her room, located in the corner of the apartment. The view from her balcony was the small street that overlooked the parking area where their family car was, and where her trusty bike was. During the times she needed to head off to school quickly, she used her bike, while most of the time, she was up and about early and walked to her school.

As soon as she opened the door to her room, Sadaharu, her Shiba Inu dog of two years, bolted from his small bed and ran to greet her. “Sadaharu!” she said, bending down to greet her white-furred dog, who proceeded to lick her face. “Missed me, huh? You didn’t get bored?” when Sadaharu panted, she knew that he had probably entered himself while she was at school.

“Thanks a lot for cheering me up… I’ve had a really crappy day.”

_Not to mention that some jerk stole my first kiss and wasn’t even apologetic about it._

Her blood still boiled whenever she thought of the moment he overpowered her by taking advantage of her casted arm. She wanted to bash his head against the cast, but realized in hindsight that it probably wasn’t the best idea to do, especially since the broken bone needs to heal properly this time around. She didn’t want to further her suffering when the weeks that followed the casting had been very difficult for her. Asking Tsukki to put zip bags on the cast while she bathed was embarrassing, but she took it all in stride, saying that asking for help wasn’t a shameful thing to do.

What she hated was her always being watched over by that jerk of a class president, who made sure she was having the worst hour of her life every single day.

 _Ugh. I need to complete two hours’ worth of detention tomorrow._  Classes ended at three in the afternoon, and she needed to complete the hours, so she had to leave by five. It was a bad way to end her week, but as long as she didn’t have to cross paths with that person anymore, what was two hours compared to spending so much time with him?

_I’ll just suck it up. The first arm bash to his face was worth it._

Kagura just hoped that he wouldn’t do anything worse than what he did today.

* * *

“Hey Tsukki.”

The mother of twins Kaguya and Kintarou gave out a yawn as her husband entered their bedroom. Beside their bed were two bassinets where the twins were sleeping, and Gintoki had made his footsteps lighter with each step he took as not to wake them up. Earlier, the blonde woman was taking a nap when Gintoki had walked in. It was annoying, really, how his presence always alerted her senses, and she hardly got any sleep both because of him and the twins.

“What, Gintoki?” she asked, trying her best not to sound irritated as she tossed her shoulder-length hair behind her.

“Guess what.”

She sighed and tried hard not to roll her eyes. “What?”

“You eldest daughter will probably have her very own shoujo manga romance soon.”

At this, her amethyst-colored irises widen both in surprise and concern. “… Oh? Kagura has…” she coughed for a bit. “Someone likes her?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?” amusement was evident in his tone.

“Not what you’re thinking. She’s a very cute and adorable girl. I’m just surprised it’s taken this long for someone to notice her.” Tsukuyo huffed. “Men and their blindness.”

“I don’t think the guy’s blind though… more like frustrated that he couldn’t, wouldn’t make a move on her.” Gintoki shrugged off his dress shirt. “He misunderstood a lot of things from what she said—”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, she mentioned buying supplies for the twins, and the guy was trying his best not to beat the crap out of me, even if he’s only up to my shoulders.” he shrugged. “He probably thought she and I have secret kids or something!”

Tsukuyo was trying hard not to laugh. “You can’t blame her. She thinks the babies belong to her.” it was amusing to hear their eldest calling the babies her own whenever she thought no one was around to hear it. “And the twins really like their big sister.”

“Yeah, but she should clear that up before some government agency arrests me all because that guy misunderstood!” Gintoki shuddered just thinking about him being thrown into jail and getting convicted for a crime he wouldn’t dare commit.

Tsukuyo laughed this time around. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you get thrown in jail.” she told him. “Maybe I should introduce myself to that guy. What’s his name anyway?” after Gintoki mentioned the guy’s name, Tsukuyo smiled.

“… The twins’ check-up is also the day Kagura’s cast gets removed, right?” at the silver-haired father’s nod, Tsukuyo nodded as well.

“I’d like to meet that Okita Sougo personally.”

* * *

School on Friday had been particularly lazy.

It seemed to her that everyone was in a rush, even the teachers, to the point that after lunch, the teachers had declared that they were all going to have study period until three in the afternoon. While everyone decided to just go home, Kagura found herself in the detention room with Okita Sougo, who was sitting beside her, mulling over so much paperwork. She figured it was related to student council work, so she picked up her pen and began writing on the worksheet, this time, from the hiragana character ‘a’ until ‘n’. It was a struggle, but she had managed to write all of the characters using her left hand after thirty minutes.

With nothing better to do, she took out her mobile phone and checked if she had new messages from her family.

An email from her mom read: “I’ll be in the store until 9PM. Can you watch over the twins until we go home?”

Sakata Tsukuyo, formerly Natsuki Tsukuyo, owns a bakery.

Particularly a bakery that specializes in strawberry-based pastries.

Co-owned with Sugiwara Hinowa, the shop was situated in downtown Shibuya and had a lot of patrons, ranging from grandparents to toddlers. Kagura herself had been a fan of the store even before dad and her got together, and it had been a huge bonus when they got married.

… But then again, she knew she had had a hand in getting both of them together, a feat she always took credit for, resulting in Gintoki rolling his eyes in disbelief and Tsukuyo chuckling.

She emailed back, “Okay, mom. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” With that, she placed her phone back inside her skirt pocket, and was about to sleep on her desk when she noticed Okita Sougo standing in front of her. She nearly jumped in her seat. “The fuck—”

“You done?” he asked.

“Y-yeah… from ‘a’ to ‘n’.” she replied.

“You can leave.” He said.

“H-huh…?”

“You can leave already. What, you wanna stay here?” he asked her.

The smug tone got to her. “Hell no. I can’t stand you, so why should I stay here with you?!” She snapped back, grabbing her bag from the bag hook located on the side of the desk. Slinging it on her left shoulder, she stomped out of the room, sliding the door open and slamming it shut as loud as she could.

It was Friday, and she didn’t want to take shit from him right now.

* * *

Sougo sighed as soon as she left the room, wondering what he did again to set her off.

She  _was_  probably pissed with what happened yesterday, but seriously, he did all he could not to bother her today.

Why did she snap back at him?

 _Seriously… girls._  Even after dating several of them, he still couldn’t figure them out.

“Okita.” The room door opened, and in came Imai Nobume, his upperclassman and the secretary of the student council. “Did Sakata just pass by here?”

“What of it?” he asked hotly.

Nobume shrugged. “She looked upset, and I was wonder if you had anything to do with it.” She may have said it with a poker-faced expression, but it was obvious that she was taunting him. “You’re the only one who can set her off—”

“Fuck off, Imai. Not in the mood to deal with you.” He said, grabbing the pile of papers from his desk. “You’re here for these, right? Go and take it.”

Nobume shook her head. “You really should be nicer.” She commented, taking the pile from him. “I’ll bring these over to Shimura. Better hope we don’t go over the budget.”

“It’s feasible. I’d want a good cultural festival. Last year was just bad.” He said, referring to the cancelled event all because the student council had been very irresponsible and did not take care of all the work.

“Then good luck to us.” Imai said before disappearing behind the door.

* * *

Business was good on Friday.

It had taken her nearly forty-five minutes to reach the shop, and as soon as she got there, Kagura immediately placed an apron over her uniform, tied up her hair, and placed a scarf over her head. It had been very busy, and she knew her mom and Hinowa needed all the help they could get. She did not have shop assistants, and her school didn’t have any ban on students working part-time, but it wasn’t as if she demanded money. She helped out because she could, and if it meant her mom having an easier time, she would do what she could.

Several hours later, at seven in the evening, nearly all the strawberry pastries in the shop had been sold out. Some patrons who had went in too late grumbled at the thought of not having their pastry today, but both Tsukuyo and Hinowa had been able to accommodate them, promising the goods by the time the store opens, which was at ten in the morning the next day. Around this time as well, Kagura was in the tiny office of the shop, watching over her siblings as they slept. The twins weren’t too fussy today, though Kaguya cried several times because she was hungry. Kintarou, on the other hand, had been an angel, and was content until Tsukuyo got to the office. That was when he started crying.

“What’s wrong now?” Tsukuyo cooed as she picked up the golden-haired baby, who was crying earnestly. Hinowa had been long gone, as she had to get home and prepare dinner for her son, Seita, and it was only the four Sakatas who were in the shop. “Shhh… you’ll wake up Kaguya…”

“I think he’s hungry, mom.” Kagura said.

“Guess so. This is the only time he woke up, huh?” asked the blonde woman as she began to unbutton her blouse. Just when Tsukuyo had sat down and began nursing the younger twin, the bell rang, signalling a customer. “Ah, can you get that—”

“I’m on it, mom.” Kagura replied as she grabbed the apron and the headscarf, tying the latter in record time despite her right arm in a cast. As soon as she stepped out of the office, she yelled, “Welcome! How may I—” she stopped midsentence as she realized who it had been who had just entered the shop.

What the hell was Okita Sougo doing here?

If he had looked surprised at her being in the store, he didn’t show it. Instead, he stared at her, his blood red eyes being inexpressive as usual. “I placed an advance order… and it’s under my name.” he said.

Kagura grabbed the log book below the cash register to check, and sure enough, his family name was written there, and the words ‘strawberry shortcake – large’ was beside it. “Okay. Let me go get it.” Beside the display of cakes and various desserts, there was a huge refrigerator on the corner where most of the treats that needed to be refrigerated at a certain temperature were stored. Hinowa had made it easier for her to find it by placing his name on the box. With a bit of a struggle, she had managed to grab the box and placed it on the counter.

“You need anything? Candles, utensils?” she asked as she wrapped a red ribbon around the box. Despite her injury, she could still make a mean ribbon, and was very good at it. When he shook his head, she shrugged and went back to tying the ribbon. Several seconds later, she took out a paper bag and placed the box inside. “It says that you still have a remaining balance of one thousand five hundred.” She informed him. When he handed her two one-thousand yen notes, just as she was about to give him his chance, he shook his head.

“Consider it a tip.” He said.

“Uhhh… for me?” she asked, wondering if she should place it on the tip box just beside the register.

“Do what you want, Sakata.” He said as he grabbed the bag and stormed off, leaving her dumbfounded at his sudden act of kindness.

… Was he really being kind, or just pitying her?

 _Ugh. Why did I have to see him...? I was already having the best night ever._  Not bothering anymore to remove her head scarf and apron, she pocketed the five hundred yen and headed back to the small office where Tsukuyo was still feeding her younger brother. “Back.” She said. “Some person took the advance order.”

“Oh, I see.” Tsukuyo nodded. “Was it the strawberry shortcake?” at her daughter’s nod, Tsukuyo smiled to herself. “Ah, good. Guess we can close early then. You can have the leftover cakes if you want.”

“ _All_?!” she found herself drooling at the thought of eating  _all_  of the pastries, which happened to be her favorite. Tsukuyo nodded, and she nearly screamed. “Thanks, mom!” she jumped up and headed back to the store front, flipped the sign ‘Closed’, and began raiding the goodies behind the huge display case. The box on her casted arm was getting filled, and as she grabbed another box, the door opened.

“Brat, don’t steal all of the pastries. Leave some for me.” Sakata Gintoki walked in, clad in his salaryman outfit, yawning. “All the small strawberry shortcakes are mine.”

“No! These are all mine!” she shot back.

“Then you can go home on the train while all of us ride in the car.” Gintoki threatened, glaring at his eldest, who was sticking out her tongue at him.

“Moooom! Dad is being mean!” she whined, and as if on cue, Tsukuyo walked out of the office, Kaguya sleeping on her chest while Kintarou was strapped safely on her back. “Ah, Gintoki.” She greeted, walking up to him to press a kiss on his cheek. Gintoki, on the other hand, kissed her back on the lips as Kagura made a gagging sound in the background. “Please get a room? Please?”

“No can do, brat. We can make out here if we want—”

“Ewww! Can we get home already?!” she hastily shoved all of the pastries in the box, placed it all in a paper bag, and headed for the door. Laughing, the Sakata couple followed suit, but not before making sure that they were really ready to close for the day, such as turning off the lights, and locking up the shop.

“Hurry up, I wanna go home and watch anime!”

“Then ride the train.” Gintoki shot back.

“No! Too slow! And I missed it already, I have to wait for thirty minutes more.” Kagura shot back as she opened the door to the van and got in. Tsukuyo placed the twins in their respective car seats and after securing the seats, she sat on the front and buckled up. Gintoki started the car, and began driving home. “Come on, dad, hurry up!”

“Quiet, or I’ll eat all of the pastries while I drive!”

“NEVER!” she sat up and grabbed the paper bag filled with food. “Mom, don’t let him eat all of it!”

“Yes, don’t worry.” She replied back, chuckling. “It’s all yours.”

“Alright…!” she cheered, leaving a frowning and defeated Gintoki.

Friday nights were what Kagura always looked forward to: her staying in the bake shop, either helping out both Hinowa and Tsukuyo or keeping an eye on her siblings (this was a fairly recent thing, however), then both Sakata women waiting for Gintoki to arrive from his workplace and pick them up. Gintoki’s job was highly stressful, and it demanded a lot of time from his family, but Friday nights were always an exception. He would get off from work early and fetch them from Shibuya, then they all went home together.

That was how they spent their time together as a family on a Friday, and Kagura couldn’t ask for more from her perfect family.

* * *

Okita Sougo had just gotten off the train station and was walking his way home when he began processing everything he had just seen.

Sakata Kagura in an apron and a head scarf was a sight to see, but knowing that she was working part-time in the store to support herself and the twins she had mentioned yesterday depressed him. Not to mention that the silver-haired jerk of a husband of hers was smirking at him as soon as he exited the shop. No doubt he was gloating; he had probably seen the exchange between him and the vermillion-haired classmate of his, and as much as he wanted to punch the face of the old man, he was in too much of a hurry to do such.

His sister was waiting for him, and was craving for a strawberry shortcake from ‘Paradise’, the bake shop he had purchased the cake from.

Maybe if he dropped by from time to time and bought pastries, he would see her…?

 _‘Sougo, stop being a creep. She’s off-limits, remember?’_  it was difficult, really, for him to accept that Sakata Kagura was already off-limits, and the fact that it was hard for him to get over it said something. He dated girls, they were forgettable, but this particular classmate of his seemed really unique to the point that his emotions were getting the best of him.

When was the last time he did  _everything_  just to appease someone?

Sighing to himself, he walked faster, wanting to get himself home and just do some thinking.

He would give himself two days to get over her.

Maybe that would work.

**_MAYBE._ **

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sougo really isn't the smartest guy out there when it comes to dealing with romantic interests.

The weekend past by like a blur for Kagura, who had spent the whole weekend at home helping both her parents with the twins. Her siblings had been a handful, as they finally realized that they were supposed to do what babies do, which was cry and scream whenever they needed a feeding, a changing of diapers, or both at the same time. Poor mom had to do it by herself on Saturday morning when Gintoki was off to half-day work, so at an ungodly hour of seven in the morning, she was up, handing over the items that mom needed. Despite her handicap, she had been able to help out until dad got home. Gintoki had sent her back to her room, claiming that he and Tsukuyo would be able to handle the twins for the meantime. An exhausted Kagura fell asleep on her bed with Sadaharu by her feet in his own little bed, and had woken up around dinner time when Gintoki had knocked on the door.

Sunday was a bit worse for her, in all honesty, as the twins started crying around four in the morning. Kagura had bolted to their rooms to try and soothe them, but had been unable to do much help as she couldn’t really feed both. Her attention was on Kaguya, whom she was feeding, while the younger one was out of her reach and kept crying. Tsukuyo appeared later, a  _yukata_ draped over her sleeping wear and had immediately scooped Kintarou out of the crib.

“Go to sleep, kid.” Gintoki said a few minutes later, yawning. “We’ll take care of this.”

“But I—”

“Kagura, this is our responsibility, not yours. You need sleep, so listen to dad.” It had been a while since Gintoki used his stern tone at her, and in an instant, she went back to bed.

Sunday afternoon was spent on grocery shopping as the twins’ supplies were running out, and both her parents have been too busy taking care of them. She went to downtown Tokyo to get the supplies as there were no nearby grocery stores near the place she lived, and by dinnertime, she was back, and eating the delicious dinner her mom had made.

Monday morning, and she walked to school early morning as well, since she couldn’t use her trusty bicycle to go there. Her left hand was still unsteady, and no matter how hard she practiced, she still ended up falling off her bike. How she wished she could get the damn cast off so she could get back to her normal routine. At least when she still had her bike, she could leave the house fifteen minutes before school started; this time around, with her right arm broken, she had to get going an hour before homeroom.

She really wanted to place all of the blame on Okita Sougo, but just thinking about his name was enough to ruin her day, so the vermillion-haired girl decided to try not to think about him too much and just grin and bear it.

… Though it still did not stop her from wanting to punch his face after she gets the cast off.

* * *

“Good morning, Kagura.” Shimura Shinpachi, her classmate and one of the people whom she could call a close friend, greeted her that morning in the shoe locker area of the school. Amusingly, their shoe lockers were beside one another, especially since their last names followed one another [1]. “How was your weekend?”

“… I wanna sleep…” she mumbled as she took her white indoor shoes from the locker. “The twins have been crying nonstop since Saturday morning and I haven’t been sleeping properly since Saturday afternoon.”

Shinpachi frowned at this. “You should’ve called me.” He said. “I’m the babysitter for those two, remember? Gin-san and Tsukuyo-san know I’m always available.”

“Yeah, but dad said he didn’t want to bother you because  _anego_  had gotten sick.” She said, referring to his older sister who worked as an office lady in a huge, traditional company. “You had to take care of her, so dad said we can’t bother you. Besides, in the end, it worked out well… though I kinda wanna…” she left out a loud yawn. “… sleep.”

“You can always sneak out to the clinic.” Shinpachi suggested.

“Great idea. I’ll do that later after homeroom.” She grinned at Shinpachi. “Thanks.”

“Also… you sure are not yourself today. You haven’t tied up your hair.” The eyeglasses-wearing teenager chuckled. “Your hair had grown so long, and I didn’t notice.”

“Ah, true. Ugh, I need someone’s help later to fix this.” While Kagura usually sported a hairstyle wherein her medium-length hair, which reached the middle of her back, was pulled up in a messy bun, this time around, it was let loose. “I thought I was going to be late, so I didn’t ask mom to help me out.”

“No wonder.” Shinpachi nodded. “Anyway, I’ll see you later. Student council meeting, and I don’t want to be late. Okita-san is really strict.” He grinned when he saw Kagura frown upon the mentioning of the president’s name. “He’s not that bad.”

“Says the guy who didn’t get pushed off the stairs by his stupid fangirls.” She muttered under her breath and Shinpachi sweatdropped, knowing that no amount of convincing would change her opinion about the sandy-haired student council president.

“Okay, okay. I won’t say anything anymore. I’ll see you later, okay?” with a quick pat on the head, Shinpachi headed off to the student council room in the third floor of the school building. Sighing to herself, Kagura removed her brown outdoor shoes, grabbed her indoor shoes, and was about to wear the white-colored shoes when she started hearing excited chatter around her.

 _Ugh, it’s him again._  It was too bad that his shoe locker was located right in front of hers, so that meant they were back to back whenever they retrieved their shoes. Rolling her eyes, she hastily wore the indoor shoes using her left hand to make it a snug fit for her feet, and right after that, she bent down to get her outdoor shoes, placed it inside the shoe locker. Just when she was about to leave, someone had pulled her hair, and it happened to be the person she wanted to see the least.

“Sakata, seriously, you only thought of letting down your hair this time around?” came his amused tone.

“And what’s it to you?” she shot back, refusing to look his way.

“Nothing, really. You look like an old hag whenever you tie your hair in a bun.” He chuckled.

“Excuse me for looking like an old hag. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to put it up in a bun later to piss you further.” For added measure, she kicked his shin as hard as she could, and as soon as he felt down to his knees while howling in pain, she ran off to her classroom.

 _Serves you right,_ she thought angrily.

* * *

_What the hell did I do?!_

Sakata had been rather moody lately, especially when it came to him, but the last thing he expected was her kicking him in the shin when he was  _subtly_  commenting to her that she looked a lot better with her hair unbound. What was it with women and their confusing signals? He had actually  _complemented_  her, so why was she so pissed? It wasn’t as if he said something out of line, but he found it annoying that she had failed to pick up his “witty comment”, and had resorted to kicking him. It was a good thing she only did a kick, or else, he would probably find himself in the infirmary with a black eye, or a broken nose, or both at the same time.

Still, that confirmed his suspicions. Upon touching her hair, he felt his heart race, and catching a waft of her hair nearly did him in. A weekend, it seems, had not been enough for him to completely get over her. It was unfair, as he did all he could to get her out of his mind, yet she came running back just when he caught a lock of hair.

He hates it when Sakata Kagura ruins everything for him.

He wants to forget about her, he does what he could to do so, yet…

Her mere presence was enough to undo his promise to himself to stay away from her.

How could a girl like her hold some sort of power over him? He, one of the more popular males in school, the student council president to boot, and the academic achiever, was weak over some girl who hated his guts, didn’t acknowledge his presence, and loathed him over the small things, ranging from being near her to him asking for her help. She couldn’t be bothered with him, she told him one morning, as “it will give your stupid fangirls ideas”. He refuted her claim, saying that it was stupid of her to say that he had fangirls.

That afternoon, he found her by the staircase, gritting in pain as she held her right arm, her lips quivering. Truth be told, he had witnessed the whole thing: a group of girls were screaming obscenities at her, telling her to stay away from him, and in her anger, she had tried to kick each and every one of them until a female from their year level had pushed her down the stairs. He waited until the girls left before he rushed to her side, all the while maintaining an air of calm detachment. Sakata had glared at him when he reached her side, but said nothing when he told her that he would take her to the school clinic.

He was shocked when the nurse had told him that she needed to go to the hospital, and that meant he was going to accompany her, as she was not able to contact her guardian (in the form of that silver-haired idiot). He had a lot of work to do for the student council, but he couldn’t just leave her (the opportunity was there, and he was going to grab it), and with that, he passed his work to poor Shimura Shinpachi. Thankfully, the guy was sympathetic to his… problem, and wished him good luck.

_“… Why are you going with me…” she asked him when they were led to the school ambulance._

_“Obviously, you’re a klutz, and if you break another part of your body, it’ll be on my head. I don’t want to deal with guardians telling me off.” It wasn’t the best reply, but at least she wouldn’t know how concerned he was over her._

_He’d rather die than admit it._

_“You can leave, you know. I don’t need you around.” Ouch._

_“Sorry, but I’ve let Shimura take all of the responsibilities for today. It’s not gonna be good if I left him with so much paperwork, and just when he gets concentrated on it, I return and tell him that I’ll just take over.”_

_The look on her face was priceless, and she looked like she wanted to murder him right then and there. “You sadistic jerk! How dare you make Shinpachi do all of your work! You’re so irresponsible.”_

_“Idiot. He needs to check the budgeting I’ve been doing since last week.” He shrugged carelessly. “But then again, you probably wouldn’t understand any of this, Sakata, since you’re so dumb and unable to comprehend that Shimura is the Treasurer.”_

_He got a kick on his shin, and he rolled his eyes at her. “You’ve resorted to hitting me? How mature.”_

_“And your name-calling isn’t?!”_

_She had a point, but it was just too fun picking on her. “Shush, Sakata. They might have to sedate you because you might worsen that broken bone of yours.” He said, dodging another kick. “Be careful—”_

_The ambulance had come to a sudden stop, and Kagura had jerked forward, landing straight to Sougo’s lap. The contact had nearly made him jump out of his skin, but he remained calm under the mask he wore… even if his heart was beating like crazy. “Sakata… better sit down properly. You don’t want your injury to get worse.”_

_She gave him a look of disbelief, as if she did not understand why he was showing concern for her. “… Why are you suddenly so nice?”_

_He suppressed the heat that started creeping up his cheeks. “Nothing. It’ll be a hassle if you can’t go to school. I won’t be able to bully you that much.”_

_As expected, she rolled her eyes and pulled away from him in disgust, much to his disappointment. “As expected from a jerk like you. Stay away from me.”_

As much as he wanted to accompany her on the day she would get her cast removed (as it was demanded upon him by the doctor), Sakata had refused, telling him that he was ‘not needed’, and that she could handle everything by herself. He remembers her telling him that he is a curse to her, and that his existence is a bane to her own.

 He wondered what the hell he did in his past life to make her hate him so much.

It sucks though, that the girl he had set his eyes on was not fond of him.  _At all_.

* * *

“Settle down, everyone.” Sakamoto Tatsuma, their homeroom teacher, scratched his head. It was weird, really, for an educator like him to sport sunglasses in school and have very unkempt and shaggy hair, but as long as the high school principal in the form of Terada Ayano [2] did not receive any complains about him, he would still be a teacher of their school.

As each and every one of them in class sat down, Kagura struggled not to fall asleep on her desk as Sakamoto-sensei had announced their schedule for the week. Her head was throwing itself forward, in an attempt to sleep, but she managed to stop herself from doing such.

_‘Come on, Kagura, after this, you can sneak out.’_

“Ah, yes, I know it’s gonna be summer vacation starting next week, but our dearest school principal had to accommodate the request of an old friend.” He turned to the door and said, “Come on in!”

The door slid open, and in came a young girl with long black hair…

… And accompanied by two muscular men in black suits.

Everyone sweatdropped at the sight of the muscular men, and the room suddenly became extra stuffy, for some reason. Even Kagura, who was on the verge of falling asleep, had been awake at that instant to gape at the two muscular men.

“This is your new classmate, Tokugawa Soyo.”

 _Figures,_  was the collective comment of the class.

A member of the Tokugawa clan, studying in a public school in the outskirts of Tokyo, was shocking and unheard of, at least, to them. They expected her to be the typical  _ojou-sama_ , studying in one of the most elite schools in Tokyo, where she could mingle with her fellow elites, but for her to be studying in their high school, and had even brought along her bodyguards…

… Either she would get along with them, or be an elitist snob.

“Hello. Please call me Soyo.” She bowed at them. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Now that’s done,” Sakamoto Tatsuma gestured at the bodyguards. “well, the bodyguards aren’t really allowed inside classrooms… but they  _are_  allowed to patrol the school grounds. If anything happens, inform them, okay?” at this, the two bodyguards took a bow, and exited the room.

“Okita, I trust you to help her out and keep an eye on Soyo during class.”

“Errr, sir, wouldn’t it be better if you assign a girl?” not that he was averse to helping her, but if their teacher was asking him to keep an eye on her, how could he do it properly if he was a member of the opposite sex, and a biological male at that?

… He was  _not_  going inside the female toilet just to keep an eye on her.

“Great idea. You and Sakata can take turns watching over her!”

The look on Sakata’s face when their adviser mentioned her nearly made him laugh, but when she turned to her right side to glare at him, he switched back to his poker-faced expression.

It was clear: the look on her face said it all.

_I’m gonna kill you for getting me into this mess, you jerk._

* * *

At lunch, Kagura took out her lunchbox, all the while yawning.

She had failed to sneak out to the clinic to catch some sleep, and she wondered if she could stay awake for the whole day. To be honest, Kagura found it difficult to pay attention in class today, and even if Shinpachi had given her chocolates to keep her awake, her eyelids refused to budge.

“May I… join you?”

She looked up to see her new classmate grinning at her. “Oh, ummm… sure. Grab a desk and a chair.”

Behind Soyo, Okita grabbed a nearby desk, which belonged to one of their classmates, and placed it in front of Kagura’s desk. “Here you go. Sakata, take care of her for the meantime.”

“Where’re you going?!” she demanded to know.

For once, she wanted him to be with her in the mess he pulled her in. Seriously, this was all his fault, dragging her along with his responsibility that she wanted no part of. She couldn’t get along with her classmates, what more a complete stranger?

“Student Council stuff.” At her doubtful glance, he sighed. “Look, Shimura is gone, is already in the meeting room, and I need to get there as soon as possible. Imai is gonna get my head if I’m late.”

‘Imai’, of course, meant their female upperclassman who was known as a ‘cool beauty’ in the whole school. “Don’t give Imai-sempai a hard time then.” She said.

Okita knew she was fond of the older girl, but sometimes, Imai was just annoying.

Especially when she made him realize how much of an idiot he can be when he is facing Sakata Kagura.

“Yeah, whatever.” As soon as he left the classroom, Kagura sighed to herself.

Talking to Okita Sougo was stressful, tiring, and very nerve-wrecking.

“… Are you and that guy…” Soyo began, but shook her head.

“Are me and that guy what?” she found herself asking.

“No, it’s nothing, Kagura-chan. Don’t mind me.” Soyo commented, opening her lunch box to reveal a rather extravagant meal that ranged from shrimp to lobster, compared to the simple, yet filling lunch that her mom had made.

Soyo’s lunch had distracted her, but her mentioning her first name had surprised her. “Wait, how did you know—”

“We met each other yesterday, remember? You were carrying a lot of grocery bags when we bumped into one another in Shinjuku.”

And with that, Kagura remembered.

About the girl she rescued in Shinjuku on the way home.

About the girl whom she rescued because some disgusting scumbags were harassing her.

About the girl who was kind enough to escort her to Shibuya from Shinjuku when she noticed that her arm was broken.

About the girl who introduced herself as ‘Soyo’, asked for her name, and the second one among her age to call her ‘Kagura-chan’, aside from Shinpachi.

“… Oh. I-I’m sorry for forgetting… I was really out of it.” Kagura scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

Soyo shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I understand. You did tell me your siblings were… being very difficult.”

“Yeah, well… babies.” Kagura shrugged as she picked up her chopsticks with her left hand and tried her best to eat her lunch as carefully as she could. The fried omelette missed her mouth by a few inches and tumbled down to her rice. “Damn it.”

“I hope you can get that cast out soon…” Soyo said. “It looks really difficult to manage.”

“I can’t wait for this to be removed. I swear, I’ll be the happiest person alive when this is remove.” She sighed, quickly shoving the omelette to her mouth. A bit of chewing, then swallowing, and she was back to chattering with her new friend. “It hurts, and when it’s itchy, I can’t scratch it. It’s driving me crazy, I tell you.”

“How many more weeks?”

“Three more.”

“… Will your cast be a problem if, let’s say, I invite you to a small birthday party at my place?” at Kagura’s questioning look, Soyo quickly added, “Oh, don’t worry. It’s not gonna turn into a crazy stuffy party. My family, despite being a Tokugawa, prefers to have parties like everyone else so… if it’s okay with you or your parents, you wanna come over next week?”

Kagura smiled. “Sounds good. I’ll ask mom and dad if they’re okay with it.”

“Oh, ummm… if you don’t feel comfortable, you can bring a friend over—”

“Can I bring Shinpachi along?” she blurted out.

“Shinpachi…?”

“I’ll introduce you to him later.” Kagura nodded. “Come on, let’s eat, and I’m running out of time scooping all of these!”

Laughter was heard throughout their classroom that lunch hour, something that their classmates were not used to, as Sakata Kagura was known to be quiet and a recluse.

Maybe, just maybe, her new friend would help her out and make her get along with her classmates…

* * *

“Okay, listen up. No one leaves the classroom until we’re done.”

Kagura, who had endured hours of trying hard not to fall asleep, groaned as Okita Sougo made his way to their homeroom teacher’s desk, picked up a piece of chalk, and began writing on the board.

Of all the days he was going to be an ass all throughout the day, why did it have to be on a Monday and on the day she wanted to go home early and sleep?!

“We’ve finalized all of the details for the Cultural Festival on November 3.” At this, she perked up upon the realization that the festival fell on her birthday, which meant she had to go to school.

Another groan, and this time around, everyone turned to look at her.

“Something the matter, Sakata?” Okita drawled.

“… Nothing.”

Of all the days, why the hell did he have to announce that their Cultural Festival will be on her birthday?!

Her mood rose from ‘meh’ to ‘I-am-so-going-to-fucking-kill-you-right-now’, all thanks to him.

“As I was saying, our class has to contribute to this event. Any suggested activities?”

At once, everyone began to shout.

“Cosplay Café!”

“Maid and Butler Café!”

“Haunted House!”

Kagura didn’t give a fuck as to what they would do, as long as she didn’t have to dress up like an idiot. She would rather work behind the scenes, as that would mean less work, and… she could probably sneak out to meet her parents when they find out that the Cultural Festival would be on the day of their daughter’s birthday.

“… Why is everyone voting for a café?” Okita wanted to know.

“ ‘Cause that’s the easiest, and we just need to have costumes made!” one of their female classmates said excitedly.

“Well, that’s true.” At this, Okita fixed his stare at her. “Sakata, you’re in charge of the menu.”

“WHAT!? WHY!?” she yelled at him angrily.

“What, you wanna cosplay instead?” at his suggestion, she blanched, knowing that her, a very tomboyish girl, was not cut out for cutesy stuff such as ‘cosplay’. “Didn’t think so.”

“… Fine. I’ll help out with the menu.”  _And maybe I can ask mom to help out with the desserts, since she’s really good with those. Better that I’m stuck with planning the menu than serving some person I don’t feel comfortable with._

“And with that settled… it’s a cosplay café then. With the exception of Sakata, everyone has to help out with the preparations.” Sougo announced. “We have three months, but we’ll have to make it work. Clear?”

The affirmative yells told him that his classmates understood him loud and clear, and the way Sakata was secretly smiling to herself made him understand that he did the right thing. He patted himself on the back, congratulating him for a job well done.

He finally had an excuse to work alongside her.

_Three months with her._

He was going to make the most out of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] since their last names followed one another - Sakata is Kagura's last name for this fic, while Shinpachi stays a Shimura. As to how their last names follow one another, Japan arranges things by 'a', 'i','u', then 'o'. After that, it goes to the k line (ka, ki, ku, ke, ko), then s line, and so on and so forth. You can keep this in mind when you are looking for manga when you go to Japan.
> 
> [2] Terada Ayano - Otose's real name.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise house visit ensues.

"Shinpachi! Shinpachi!!!" a distressed-sounding Sakata Kagura made her way to the crowded hallway as some students who were hanging outside their classrooms blocked her way towards the Treasurer of the Student Council. She muttered ‘excuse mes’ as she tried to squeeze her way through to run after him, who was now well ahead of her and probably out of hearing range to hear her screams. While she kept screaming for Shimura to look her way, he kept on walking, so the best thing that she could do was run towards him and try to keep up.

Unfortunately, the vermillion-haired girl was running too fast and had been careless in her foot work that she found herself tripping on her own feet. As she screamed in horror at the thought of her landing on her right arm that was still in a cast, someone had managed to grab her by the waist and prevented her from falling.

"Sakata, no running in the corridors."

_That voice_ …

She looked back to see Okita Sougo giving her a concerned look, his arms still around her waist, supporting her. “Be careful. You don’t want that arm broken again, do you?”

The retort, despite sounding harmless, had gotten her angry. “Stop it with your fake concern, Okita.” she growled.

It was unbelievable that someone like him was  _concerned_  for her. Whatever the hell he was planning, she was not buying it.

He rolled his eyes in exasperation, but instead of pushing her down to the ground, he pushed her away from him instead, in the direction of Shimura Shinpachi, who had finally taken notice of her and had walked back to where she was. Kagura then slammed against the eyeglass-wearing male student, who yelped in surprise at the impact. “Fine. I should’ve let you get your arm broken again.” he said angrily, rubbing the back of his head in frustration, sandy blonde hair sticking up a bit from the gesture. “It would’ve been more fun to torment you with more of your body parts broken and you’re hopping around the campus like an idiot—” before he could finish his sentence, he narrowly avoided a kick that was thrown his way.

"Kagura-chan, calm down. You might get into an accident again!" Shinpachi said, always the voice of reason.

"Then tell that jerk to leave me alone!" she yelled back.

Shinpachi noticed Okita twitch in anger at her comment and decided to change the subject. “Errr, anyway… why were you calling me again?”

Thankfully for him, Kagura was easily distracted and had forgotten her grudge against the Student Council President. “Oh yeah!” she said, looking at him with glee evident in her eyes. “Can you come over to my house tonight?”

"Huh? Is Tsukuyo-san okay? Is she sick?"

As Kagura and Shinpachi were both engrossed in their own conversation, both have failed to see the shock and anger that was emitting from the student council president, who was now glaring at both of them with his crimson-colored orbs.

_'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON BETWEEN YOU TWO?!'_

He knew he had no right to be jealous, nor was it even logical for him to feel anger towards one of her childhood friends, but still…

Shimura calling her so casually by her given name irritated him. It was silly of him to hope, given the current situation, but it would be really nice if he would be allowed to call her by her given name.

_Dream on, Sougo,_ came the sarcastic voice in his head.

As he stood there, waiting for the Treasurer of the Student Council to finish his talk as they had to go for a short meeting for lunch break was over, little did he know that the two were having a rather heated discussion, though it was one-sided.

Kagura was beyond pissed.

“So… why are you suddenly asking me if I’m available tonight?” he asked again, just to be sure he heard right. This was a new sight, Kagura pissed at her family. More than anything, she loves them with all her heart, but this time around, Shinpachi wasn’t so sure if this was Kagura talking to him…

… Especially since right now, she is talking so badly of a certain family member.

“That idiot Sakata Gintoki ruined ‘Mommy and Me Night’!” she repeated angrily, hitting Shinpachi in the arm out of frustration. As the eyeglasses-wearer yelped in pain from her hit, she continued on with her rant. “That asshole planned their dinner night tonight, that jerk…! He knows about it, yet there he went, booking their dinner date in a damn restaurant in some fancy hotel in Shibuya!” she puffed her cheeks in frustration and yelled out loud, causing everyone to look at her, wondering if she had lost it.

“Ah, the sacred ‘Mommy and Me Night’.” Despite not being part of the Sakata household, the close ties Gintoki had with the Shimura family was enough for him and his older sister to know the quirks of the Sakata family. When Tsukuyo had joined the Sakata household, Kagura had made it a point to bond with the woman whom she had been calling ‘mom’ for the rest of her life, though occasionally, she still used ‘Tsukki’ (something that she had copied from Gintoki when she had been younger), and the blonde lady took no offense at all. ‘Mommy and Me Night’, as Kagura had dubbed it, was held every Thursday night without fail ever since Kagura had been nine years old. Now sixteen, it would be the first time in seven years since it got interrupted, and by her father, no less.

“THAT BASTARD. I’D KICK HIM IN THE NUTS IF I COULD!” she screeched, kicking the nearby door.

“C-calm down, Kagura-chan, I’m sure Gin-san didn’t mean it—”

“WHATEVER!” she screamed angrily, everyone present in the hallway giving her yet another weird look. “Be at my place by 6 in the evening, or you’re dead, four-eyes!” huffing, she turned around and walked towards the hallway that Shinpachi knew did not lead to their classroom.

“Where are you going? Lunch break is nearly over!” he reminded her.

“Cafeteria! Need more food!”

As Shinpachi watched her walk off, he cautiously approached Okita Sougo, who was also watching her retreating back. “Okita-san—”

“What?” the student council president snapped, making Shimura gulp in fear.

“Y-you probably heard but—”

“Not really.” It was the truth; Sougo tuned out whatever it was that they talked about, though it was amusing to see her puff her cheeks.

… Dare he say that he found it cute?

“Oh. Well, anyway… I need to ask you for a favor…”

* * *

Right after school was done, Kagura had escorted Tokugawa Soyo alone (Okita had been too busy with student council work, and couldn’t find time to help out the new student) to her bodyguards who were waiting for her by the school gate. The pretty raven-haired girl had offered Kagura a lift back home, which she had declined, knowing that she shouldn’t take advantage of the kindness of her new friend. Besides, her home wasn’t too far from the school, and didn’t mind the walk at all. Thirty minutes after her walk, she got to her house, and used her keys to open the apartment door. “I’m home!” she yelled.

“Welcome home.” Was the automatic response of Tsukuyo, and immediately, Kagura headed off to the kitchen. Without warning, she threw her arms around the older woman, who was already dressed in casual wear that consisted of a floral light blue sleeveless summer dress that reached mid-thigh.

“Mommy, that idiot Gintoki is taking you away from me!” she whined.

“Who’re you calling ‘idiot’, you damn brat!” Kagura yelped as her father’s fist hit her head, and as soon as she turned around to glare at him, Gintoki glared back. “And what the hell is up with that look on your face?”

“You ruined ‘Mommy and Me Night’, you big jerk!” moving away from Tsukuyo, Kagura raised her non-injured arm and repeatedly hit the older man, making him yell in pain. “How could you—”

“How the hell was I to know that the restaurant I booked for months in advance would reserve the dinner date on a Thursday?!” he defended. “And mind you, it was your mother who was looking forward to this!”

Suddenly, the teenager stopped, though she was still glaring at the male Sakata. “… Then you’d better give her a worthwhile dinner date. More worthwhile than ‘Mommy and Me Night’.”

“Go to sleep before ten so it’ll be worthwhile for her—” a kick on the shin, and he went hopping around the kitchen in pain while Tsukuyo tried to control the blush that threatened to creep up her cheeks. Despite the fact that it was yet too soon for such…  _acts_ , the eldest daughter of the Sakata family knew well what was going on between her parents.

… And they weren’t exactly  _very discreet_  about it too.

“Anyway, will Shinpachi be arriving soon?” Tsukuyo asked, changing the subject in the process.

“If you have to leave now, go on. The twins are still sleeping anyway… I can handle them.” Kagura said. “Better get going or you might end up ruining another ‘Mommy and Me Night’ if this doesn’t push through!”

“Whatever you say, kid.” Gintoki replied, fixing his white dress shirt collar. He walked towards the hallway leading to the  _genkan_ and stopped before the end of the hallway to check in the mirror. After a final look, he began putting on his leather shoes. Seconds later, Tsukuyo followed suit, a handbag hanging on her wrist, and sat on the elevated platform to put on her wedges. Before they left, Kagura kissed both of them goodbye, bidding them a, “See you later!” before heading off to her room to change into a more comfortable clothing. After several minutes, she exited her room, Sadaharu in tow, and settled comfortably in the couch, wearing a loose shirt and sweatpants.

Six-thirty in the evening, and Kagura, with Sadaharu by her feet, was slowly feeling nervous; it bothered her that Shinpachi was still nowhere to be found, and she had this bad feeling that the twins would be waking up anytime. It was weird for her best friend to be late; he was always punctual, and no matter how many times he was delayed, he would contact her if something came up on his end.

Kagura picked up her mobile phone, and when she found no message, she knew something was really wrong. Just before she could dial Shinpachi’s number from her contact list, the doorbell rang. Immediately, Sadaharu bounded for the door, and Kagura followed suit. “Sadaharu, no. Stay. You can’t bite Shinpachi’s leg okay? STAY.” The dog whined for a bit, but ultimately went back to the living room. Not bothering to look through the door peephole, she opened the door and pushed it forward. “Oi Shinpachi, where the hell were you—”

Unfortunately for her, it wasn’t Shimura Shinpachi who stood in front of her, but rather, Okita Sougo, dressed in a casual light blue shirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers. The look on his face, to her surprise, was that of a guy who looked very bored. “I’m not Shimura.”

“Y-you…!” immediately, she got into her fighting pose, arm cast and all. “What are you doing here?!”

“Shimura got caught up with student council work, so he asked me to go in his stead.” He informed her.

“You forced that on him, didn’t you, you sadistic ass?!” she tried to kick him, but he dodged her attack. “DIDN’T YOU!”

“Shh. You’re disturbing the neighbors.” Sougo said. “But anyway, Shimura says he’s sorry for not telling you earlier that he had extra work to do.” At this, he walked towards the doorway of the apartment. “I’ll try and help out. Excuse me, coming through.” Ignoring her, he began to remove his sneakers.

“Oi, you can’t be here!” she yelled at him, kicking him in the shin as hard as she could.

“And what? You think you can take care of babies in your current condition?”

“I would’ve been able to if it wasn’t for  _you_!”

There, she said it.

It was one of the things that had always made her resent him so much.

Somehow, Sougo knew she would bring it up and blame him for it. He knew he was partially responsible for her current condition, and he was going to do whatever he could, albeit indirectly, to help her out. Sighing to himself, he knew this was not the right time to be arguing with her about this. Her provoking him about this issue was still uncomfortable for him, but it was something he just couldn’t do away with.

_If only_ he had done something that day to help her out on that day…

Sighing to himself, he pinched the bridge of his nose and turned to look at her seriously. “… Just show me where the babies are. That is what I came here for anyway.”

“Since when were you such an expert in handling babies?” she couldn’t help but voice out her concern. Kaguya and Kintarou mean the world to her; how could she even trust the person whom she had always hated for the past few years to take care of them?

To her shock, he suddenly… blushed?!

“… I just know.” He coughed. “Anyway, let’s—”

Sougo had been unable to finish his sentence as a flash of white suddenly stopped by the end of the hallway. Eager dog eyes were on him, and before Kagura could yell at him to stay away as Sadaharu was the type to hate strangers, he suddenly found himself…

… Getting jumped on by the dog.

And getting licked on the arm over and over again.

What surprised him was that the dog’s tail was wagging like crazy, and the fact that Sakata’s face was so priceless right now: her mouth open, she kept looking back and forth between him and her beloved pet, her azure-colored eyes filled with shock. “What’s wrong?”

“Sa-Sadaharu usually bites the person coming through the door who isn’t family… hell, he still bites Shinpachi from time to time, but… but you… this is your first time here, yet he’s so… excited.” Kagura explained, still at a loss at the earlier sight she had witnessed.

“Must be my luck then.” He muttered, shrugging. “Anyway, can you just show me what I should do? The sooner I do this, the earlier I can leave.”

* * *

Thirty minutes into the babysitting job, Sougo felt the fatigue hit him.

Lately, he hadn’t been sleeping much, all thanks to schoolwork; plus, real life stress kept him awake at night. The sandy-haired young man was grateful that the twins were quite behaved (so unlike Sakata, he noted), and even if he had picked up the silver-haired one from her crib, she remained asleep. As soon as he picked her up, however, Sakata had demanded that he place her instead on her non-injured arm, and he obliged immediately. Kagura sat down on the opposite side of the couch and began cradling the baby girl while Okita sat at the far end, sighed to himself and closed his eyes.

_This babysitting job should better be worth it_ , he thought.

As much as he was thankful for Shimura giving him the opportunity to be with Sakata, fact remained that there was something that Okita Sougo will never, ever be able to stand.

And that was—  
  
"Oi, help out!" immediately, he opened his eyes, and before he could mouth a protest, a silver-haired baby was forced into his arms, along with a small baby bottle of milk. He wanted to drop the kid, in all honesty, but could not,  _would not_  do such.

This child, after all, was her daughter...  
  
"The bottle!" came the commanding tone.  
  
"Huh?" he asked, snapping out of his thoughts.  
  
"Kaguya’s crying! The bottle, you idiot!" Sakata Kagura said as she slowly turned pale. It was evident that she was not used to this type of thing  _at all_. Did that mean that old man did all of the work because of her current condition…?  
  
"Right." using his right hand, he aimed the teat at the baby girl’s mouth. Immediately, Kaguya calmed down and began sucking eagerly. "Heh. Finally settled down." He remarked.  
  
Kagura glared at him angrily. “You took too long… you’re such a sadist.”  
  
"That’s not a nice thing to say to your babysitter." he said, standing up, careful that his hold on the baby was steady. "I can get the hell out right now and leave you to do everything by yourself—"  
  
"… Fine. I’m sorry." she apologized, though her eyes reflected anger.  
  
"That’s better." he smirked, sitting down once more. Holding the bottle, he glanced at Kaguya, who was still eagerly drinking her milk. "She sure is hungry."  
  
"She got that from me, obviously." said the vermillion-haired girl proudly. "She wouldn’t be my sister if she didn’t get that trait from me!"  
  
 _… Wait. Sister?!_

Sougo recovered immediately. “Errr… sis… ter?” he asked, wanting to know if what he heard was correct, or if the lack of sleep was making him delusional.

“Obviously.” She shot back sarcastically, making it more difficult for him to know if her reply was serious or not.

“So is this baby your sister or not?!” he couldn’t help but yell.

“Sister, of course!” she shot back. “Who the hell do you think I am?! Do I look like I gave birth to her?!”

_With the five lunch boxes you eat at school, yes._  Aside from the usual lunch box she brought from home, Sakata would skip to the cafeteria to get four more boxed lunch sets, to the horror and amusement of the lunch ladies. Though that happened before she broke her arm, it was still enough reason for people to start rumors that she was pregnant… and a lot of people, including him, were all leaning towards ‘yes’. No one could confirm, as Sakata wasn’t the type to be friends with everyone, and all the pregnancy rumors remained rumors.

… Until Okita began forming conclusions by himself, leading him to start becoming depressed at times at the thought of her  _married_  and with  _children_  and—

“Hey.” he looked up at her. “Why are you such an expert on this anyway?”

At this, he stilled. Should he tell her about this part of his life that no one really knew of…?

Will Sakata use it against him…?

Or will she actually be indifferent and not care…?

_Might as well try._  Out loud, he said, “… I took care of my nephew as a baby. Before he turned one, I was the one who did all of these things. He’s currently two years old now, and my sister still asks me from time to time to take care of him whenever she gets too busy.”

Kagura nodded. “Oh, that… I didn’t know. So you have an older sister… never knew you had one.”

“She graduated from our school too, and all our teachers know her. She’s currently working for an advertising agency, so the schedule is crazy at times.” He said as he placed the bottle in the table in front of him and was now placing Kaguya over his shoulder as he rubbed her back. “I still take care of my nephew from time to time, but as much as she can, my sister does everything now.”

“Is her husband the usual type of man who doesn’t want anything to do with children?” she said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Immediately, Kagura knew she said something wrong as a dark mood suddenly surrounded Okita, and his focus was on the table right in front of him, glaring down at it as he kept on rubbing her little sister’s back. “… My sister is unmarried, Sakata.”

_Oh, crap._  “I-I… s-sorry. Didn’t mean to say something weird…” who would’ve thought that today would be the day she would apologize to the person she hates so much?

_Must be something I ate… or I’m becoming kind to him because of what he’s doing for my siblings. I’ll go for the former. There’s no way I’ll ever be nice to this jerk…!_

“It’s not a big deal.” He mumbled, but she knew better.

It was obvious that the subject was a sore topic for him, so she sighed, wondering what the hell she should do to at least lighten the mood. Damn Okita, but he was infecting her current mood with his gloominess! “When you’re done with Kaguya, can you get Kintarou? I bet he’s hungry. He’s the silent type between these two.” At least, she hopes, this would distract him.

“ ‘Kay.” After a rather loud burp from Kaguya, which made him smile a little, he placed the silver-haired girl in her elder sister’s arms before walking to the room where the other male twin was located.

Inside, Sougo sighed to himself, trying to shake away the bad thoughts that he used to associate with his nephew. Three years ago, he had resented his sister for the mistake she had committed by getting herself pregnant. The man she had identified as the father of her child kept on refusing to marry her, saying that both of them had talked about it already, and that ‘she shouldn’t expect anything from him’, and that also meant marriage. Despite that, she still kept seeing the man, knowing that whatever she did to try and please him, she would  _never_  get anything more from him, other than money for child support, and legitimacy, as his nephew Nozomu was currently registered under his father’s family registry. [1]

How he hated that man.

They’ve seen each other a couple of times, and it usually ended with him punching that guy in the face.  _Aneue_  would get angry at him, but he couldn’t care less about her feelings for that guy. Even if she still loves the father of her child, he hates his guts.

Hijikata Toshirou was a grade-A asshole, and that was that.

Peering over to the bassinet, he found Kintarou wide awake. As soon as the golden-haired baby saw him, he started making baby noises and raised his arms impatiently, as if demanding that the person looking at him carry him  _right this instant_. Sougo shook his head, but picked up the baby anyway and placed him in his arms carefully.

Sometimes, it still amused him to see babies getting attached to him. It was a weird ability he had ever since he had first held his nephew, and still continued on until this day, this ability being the one thing he really couldn’t stand. He watched kids who came in contact with him suddenly get themselves attached to him, much to his embarrassment. Besides kids, even the most hostile and harshest animals become docile whenever he tried to pet them.

It was a very unmasculine trait if one went about the social norms, but he couldn’t care less about that. If kids and animals like him, that was enough for him.

At least he knew he really wasn’t rotten inside.

“Come on, you must be hungry.” He said to the younger male as he made his way back to the couch and found Sakata with a crying Kaguya.

“Oi, help me out!”

He rushed forward, careful not to startle Kintarou with the sudden change of speed in his walking. “This guy’s hungry too. I’ll need you to feed Kaguya.”

“H-how?!”

He steadied his hold on Kintarou by cradling him on his right forearm. After placing a bottle in Kintarou’s eager mouth and letting the bottle rest on his torso, he said, “Put your sister on my other arm and use your left hand to feed her.”

After settling Kaguya in his other arm, the older of the two girls in the room gave him an amazed look. “… She seems to calm down when you’re holding her. What am I doing wrong…”

_Don’t tell me you’re gonna resent me for this too_. “Takes practice, I guess.”

“I see…”

Silence permeated the air, and Kagura ended up staring at the television in front of them. To end the awkward silence, she switched it on and ended up watching a documentary about a lake in Hokkaido called ‘Lake Touya’ [2]. Somehow, the documentary had drawn her in, and by the end of it, she took a look at her companion to ask him what he wanted for dinner. To her surprise, Okita Sougo was fast asleep, the twins in his arms wide awake and staring at the person who was cradling them both in his arms.

His head was tilted sideways, and he kept slipping to his right, waking himself up to straighten up, only to fall sideways again. Fed up with his stupid gestured that annoyed her, she pulled him and forced his head down on her shoulders, and this time around, he didn’t wake up anymore. He snored softly, not like how her dad snored (like a damn steamboat), but somehow, it was soothing, and was slowly lulling her to sleep…

* * *

“Thanks for that wonderful dinner.” Tsukuyo said as she stepped inside their home, kissing Gintoki as soon as he closed the door. “I had fun.”

“Better not let your daughter hear that. She might resent you.” They gave out a low chuckle and made their way to the living room to greet their eldest and Shinpachi when the sight before them shocked them into a stupor.

Kagura was fast asleep, her head rest against some unfamiliar individual’s head, as his head was resting on her shoulder. The twins were in the stranger’s arms, both fast asleep, and surprisingly, the two youngest members of their family looked like they were snuggling towards the stranger.

“Ah, that guy…” Gintoki trailed off.

“Hmmm?”

“Okita Sougo, Kagura’s classmate.” At this, Gintoki’s wife’s amethyst-colored irises began gleaming with excitement, took out her mobile phone, pressed her finger on the speakers of her phone, and took a photo. After the loud snap, she checked if the two were still asleep, and upon confirmation of their breathing, she took another photo again.

“… Tsukki, what the heck are you planning…” Gintoki asked, though he knew the answer to that question.

“Shush. This is the first time a young man visits the house who isn’t Shinpachi.” She smiled at the taken photo. “This is for souvenir purposes.”

Gintoki sighed and walked over to the couch area where he picked up an empty bottle of milk before returning to the blonde lady’s side. “Kinda surprises me that this guy knows how to handle babies.” He remarked.

“That’s cute.” Tsukuyo cooed. “He went here just for her.”

“Is he a stalker or what? If he is, I’d want a restraining order for him. He must stay away at least 50 meters away from our daughter and—” at this, his wife elbowed him at the ribs and shushed him. “What?!”

“Shinpachi messaged me to say that he couldn’t make it because Otae-chan had a relapse. He was sending a friend in his stead, but assured me that Okita Sougo knew how to take care of babies.” She told him.

“Ah. Still, for him to come here all the way… that’s something.”

“Reminds me of a certain someone who would sometimes bike from Setagaya to Inagi just to visit me.” [3] At this, Gintoki blushed and glared at her.

“It’s not like I wanted to visit you or anything—” before he could continue on with his  _tsundere_  tirade, the mother of his twins pulled him by the collar of his dress shirt to kiss him on the lips.

“Shush, you’ll wake them up.” She said after she broke away from the kiss.

“Let them. It’s nearly ten, and they have school tomorrow.” Tsukuyo jolted upon realization that the young man still sleeping on their couch would still have to journey back to his home. Immediately, she walked up to him and shook him awake. A light shake, and he was awake.

“Hi. I’m Kagura’s mother, Tsukuyo.” She gave out a gentle smile at the sleepy-eyed Sougo. “Thank you for taking care of my kids.”

Sougo suddenly straightened up. “Oh, umm… hello. I’m Okita Sougo, Ka—I mean, your daughter’s classmate.” He was unsure whether to call Sakata Kagura by her first name or not, but he didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea, so he decided to go for something more neutral.

“Ah, yes, Shinpachi has told me about you.” She said, holding out her arm to retrieve her look-alike, Kintarou. “I’m so sorry for the trouble—”

He shook his head. “No, it’s… fine. I wasn’t doing anything anyway, and Shimura asked for a favor. I couldn’t turn it down.”  _Not to mention it was an excuse for me to see her outside of school._  A light press on his left shoulder, and he realized that the girl he had feelings for was now leaning against his shoulder. Trying to control his blush, he used his free hand to gently lower her head to the couch’s throw pillow, which did not go unnoticed. Tsukuyo grinned to herself.

Looks like he had manners, despite the nonchalant vibe he portrays.

“Still, thank you. Would you like anything? Food? Drinks?” at the shake of his head, Tsukuyo gave him a puzzled look. “Are you really sure…? I’m really sorry for the trouble.”

“Yes. I need to go home. My sister is probably waiting for me. And don’t worry… it was really no trouble at all.” With Kaguya still in his arms, he stood up, held her gently, and passed her on to the silver-haired man standing tall in the living room. When Sougo stood in front of him and deposited the little girl in the awaiting man’s arms, Sakata Gintoki smirked at him.

“Nice to officially meet you, kid. I’m Sakata Gintoki, Kagura’s  _father_.” He said, emphasizing the last word. He saw the younger male wince and chuckled silently to himself.

“… Nice to meet you too, sir.” He muttered.

“Gintoki is fine. Anyway, come by again sometime and watch over the twins. At least Shinpachi has a substitute babysitter now.” He joked.

Sougo shrugged. “Excuse me.” He bowed to both of them before seeing himself out, but not before Sadaharu bolted up to follow him. While he put on his shoes, Sadaharu kept on licking his face, which he paid no attention to. After making sure his sneakers were all tied, he exited the door. After checking that he had indeed left, Gintoki looked at his wife. “Well?”

“He should stay here for dinner next time.”

* * *

"Are you free tomorrow night?"

The voice who had asked him the question caught him off-guard to the point that he looked up from his bag to see Sakata looking at him with disgusting. Though her voice disguised it, it was very obvious that she was not happy with what she was doing, which was talking to him. After last night, she had been distant, ignoring him whenever she could, and never talking to him during class, but now that she had been forced to talk to him, he couldn’t help but wonder what made her talk now.  
  
 _Act cool._  
  
"I think I am. Is there… I mean, something the matter?" he asked, coughing a bit before standing up to meet her gaze.  
  
"Yeah, well… mom is inviting you over for dinner, and she asked me to ask you." she grumbled.  
  
"Oh." at this, Okita blinked, confused that Tsukuyo was inviting him back over so quickly. He had been telling her before that it had been no trouble babysitting the twins, and honestly, he did not expect this outcome at all.  
  
"Are you… going?" she asked in a grumbling manner.  
  
 _'Damn it, this is difficult. If I refuse, she'll call me arrogant. If I go, she'll keep complaining that I'll be ruining her night.'_  he thought, wondering why the hell he fell for someone so complicated as her. Try as he might, he really couldn’t get over her, no matter how hard he tried.  
  
 _'Hell. I'll go for it.'_  Out loud, he said, “I’ll be going.”  
  
As expected, she sighed, shaking her head, and glared at the nearby object, which happened to be his desk. “Okay then. I’ll tell mom you’re going tomorrow.”  
  
"Uh, thanks." he said awkwardly.  
  
"Don’t be late." she snapped before heading out of the classroom, her school bag slung over her left shoulder, leaving a bewildered Okita.  
  
 _Why is she pissed?! What the hell did I do now?!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] as his nephew Nozomu was currently registered under his father’s family registry – in Japan, if the father and the mother are not married, the only way to legitimize the child is to put him or her in the family registry of the father. Putting him or her in the mother’s family registry is equal to telling everyone that the child is illegitimate.
> 
> [2] a lake in Hokkaido called ‘Lake Touya’ – Touya-ko, the name of Gintoki’s wooden weapon and a real lake in Hokkaido
> 
> [3] Reminds me of a certain someone who would sometimes bike from Setagaya to Inagi just to visit me. – Setagaya is a special ward in Tokyo while Inagi is a city in Tokyo. Setagaya to Inagi is around 15 kilometers/9.3 miles.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not all revelations are good.

It was one thing to fulfill your mother’s wish of inviting a classmate over…

… but it was another thing altogether if the person invited over happened to be the person she could not stand.

No matter how much they all like him, and hell, even if he did a good deed in the form of him babysitting her siblings, the ass who goes by the name of Okita Sougo is still a jerk in her eyes. That bully had no place in her home, and aside from that one-time babysitting stint, for her, he was not welcome anymore.

… Not in the eyes of Sakata Tsukuyo though.

The last thing she wanted to hear was her mommy singing songs of praise about ‘that young man who was capable of lulling the twins to sleep’, as well as ‘the only boy other than Shinpachi to visit our home’, which _kinda_ implied that her mother was hinting _romance_ (she gagged at the thought of _anything_ romantic with that asshat). At her age, she supposed that the stereotype for her was that she _must_ be boy crazy, and that she would be part of those statistics that kept emphasizing the fact that high school was the perfect time to have a ‘springtime of youth’ moment: meaning, ‘time to get a boyfriend, because it’s totally your life goal in school as a young heroine in a shoujo manga-like setting, just like this fanfiction’. But Sakata Kagura was not in a shoujo manga genre (hello, Gintama _is_ published in Weekly _Shonen_ JUMP!) series, nor was she the typical female who wanted a boyfriend at the age of sixteen (it all depends on the author writing the fanfiction, of course). All she wanted was for her and Okita Sougo not to cross paths anymore (or kept to a minimal, whichever was humanly possible) and to have a peaceful time in high school until she was off to the university, where she could totally have an image change and be _herself_ for once.

But no, she was stuck hearing about ‘that brilliant young man’ from her mother. Her idiotic father knew she did not like that ass, but he didn’t say _anything_ to counter his wife’s praises. In fact, once in a while, he would agree, which would piss her off even more until a huge frown would appear on her face and only _then_ they would notice that she is _upset_.

Okay, not upset. More like… livid.

Livid at the thought that _everyone_ around her saw the opposite of how she saw him.

_‘You stupid_ _two-faced jerk _…!__ ' she thought angrily as she and her parents had breakfast on that Saturday morning of the planned dinner with that guy she couldn’t stand. To calm herself down, she angrily ripped a piece of bread with her left hand and mouth, and chewed with so much gusto that surprised the people around her.

“Are you alright, Kagura?” asked Tsukuyo, her face etched with concern.

“ ‘M fine…!” came her reply, only to be hit on the head by her dad. “HEY!”

“No talking while your mouth is full.” Gintoki said, yawning. “Sixteen years, and you’re still at it. And don’t sass at your mom.”

Kagura replied with ‘hmph!’ before taking another toast, ripping it apart with her teeth this time, and chewing on it. “What’s gotten into you today, kiddo?” asked Gintoki, scratching the back of his head.

“Nothing.” She huffed, looking obviously pissed.

Tsukuyo, who was busy cooking breakfast for her husband, turned around and set down the turning spatula. “Kagura, is there anything the matter? Be honest with us.”

As soon as Tsukuyo spoke, Kagura felt the hesitation rise up in her… she knew that she might cause some distress to her mom, but it was better than skirting around the issue. The older woman might as well know what it was that was eating her figuratively. Right after swallowing her piece of bread, she said, “… I’m not really okay with  _that guy_  visiting us again.”

“… Oh. I’m so sorry, Kagura.” Tsukuyo said quietly, her eyes downcast, looking quite guilty. This alarmed the younger girl, as she did not want to upset her mother in any way. The blonde woman whom she had been fondly calling ‘mommy’ (with the occasional ‘Tsukki’ slip-up at times) since she was a little girl was the last person she wanted to offend… and it did not sit well with her that her mother was now looking like she was torn between wanting to retract the invitation and going along with it. “I did not know Okita-kun… makes you uneasy.”

She shook her head. “I-I wasn’t clear enough the first time… but if mom still wants him to go… guess I’ll have to put up with him.” Hell, she didn’t even bother putting his mobile number on her phone, and she refused to ask Shinpachi for his number. And of course, there was this dilemma of suddenly telling him that dinner is cancelled just because she didn’t want him in their household, and this would embarrass her mother greatly. “I promise to be on my best behavior.” She assured the blonde woman.

At this, Tsukuyo smiled a bit. “If you’re sure… then I’ll be heading off to the market.” At Kagura’s questioning look, she asked, “Is steak alright? Bite-size pieces for you, of course.”

“Sure!” steak night was always delicious, but she wouldn’t let Okita ruin it for her.

“Great.” The blonde woman said and went back to her cooking. “I’ll be going to the market after lunch. Do you want to accompany me?” at her daughter’s affirmative reply, she sighed in relief.

Everything was going according to plan.

* * *

Hours after the shopping trip, Tsukuyo busied herself with the preparations for the dinner tonight.

Keeping an eye on her eldest daughter, who was trying her best not to make too much mess with the concoction she was planning, Tsukuyo began to work on the counter just opposite of her daughter’s. Despite her saying that she was going to put up with him just for tonight, her sudden decision to bake strawberry brownies had been puzzling, to say the least. Kagura had given the excuse that she was doing this because she was meeting her other friend, Tokugawa Soyo (the family name of her other friend made the blonde woman wonder how the two of them knew one another), and she wanted the new friend to have a taste of the dessert she was good at making. Kagura, of course, had learned to make the brownies from her mother, as the latter owned a pastry shop that specialized in strawberry desserts. Tsukuyo couldn’t have been more proud; the method had been her own, but Kagura had been the one who perfected the art of making strawberry brownies.

“Will we be eating those tonight?” Tsukuyo asked, humor evident in her tone.

The vermillion-haired girl looked up from her mixing bowl. “… Well, yeah. If mom wants to serve it tonight, I’m okay with it.”  _Though these are for Soyo-chan…_  Personally, she didn’t want that jerk to taste the pastries she had made, but if her mother will ask her to share, then she would share… begrudgingly.

“Good! I haven’t had those since I was pregnant, so I can’t wait to eat those again.” As she had been carrying twins, she had to limit her sugar intake and it took a lot of self-control on her part not to indulge, as she was the proprietor of a store that sold sweets. It had been a tough thirty-five weeks, but with them alive and healthy, Tsukuyo knew she could go back to her old habits of eating a lot of her favorite desserts.

… Especially if her own husband was fond of sweets himself and would join her in the indulging of the pastries.

“And your dad will love these too, so I hope you bake a lot of those.” Tsukuyo said. “Do you want me to help you with those, or will you be okay?”

“Can you help me preheat the oven?” at her nod, Kagura smiled to herself. “I’ll be okay. I can pour the batter on the pan, don’t worry. I’ll just yell out if I need anything.”

For hours, the two women cooked (in Tsukuyo’s case) and baked (in Kagura’s case), until they realized that it was nearing six. At this, Tsukuyo panicked, knowing that she had lesser time to get ready. “Oh no, I need to get ready! What if the guest arrives—” before he mother could finish her monologue, Kagura spoke up.

“I’ll take care of it, mom. You’re nearly done with the food, right?”

“Y-yeah—”

“Go take a shower. I’ll be fine… these brownies just need cooling.” She said, mentally wondering when she herself would get ready… not that she needed the extra time to make herself look good.

After all, Kagura was doing it for the sake of her mother, who went through all of this trouble to… ‘repay’ Okita for the babysitting he did.

She was simply going to make herself look decent enough to put on a show, and be convincing enough to show them that she was a mature young lady who can deal with this stupid jerk.

It was only dinner, right?

* * *

Kagura’s eye nearly twitched as their guest entered their home at exactly seven in the evening. He was wearing a pair of jeans, and a white and navy-blue colored baseball shirt, while a light blue-colored scarf was wrapped around his neck. As he removed his footwear, Sadaharu bolted to him immediately and began placing his front paws on Okita’s shoulders, his tail wagging like crazy. The sandy-haired teenager paid no attention to Sadaharu, only patting him on the head when he was standing on the elevated platform as he greeted both her parents. She, on the other hand, looked on from the dining-living room area of their apartment, now fully dressed in a long, lavender-colored tank top wherein the front had a print of a rather famous cartoon character while she wore a pair of rather short Chino-made shorts that reached mid-thigh. It had been rather difficult for her to shower, as her cast had to be wrapped in Ziploc plastic, and she was barely done with getting dressed when the bell rang. She did not bother with tying up her long hair, as it was still damp from the shower, and there was no need to dress up in front of the idiot.

Okita, on the other hand, was nervous.

This was the first time a classmate has invited him over for dinner, but what made this even more special was the fact that it was Sakata who had invited him… well, it was an invitation from her mother, but still, it counted.

He knew that there was a bigger chance of him screwing up in front of them if he dwelled too much on how he must act, so the student council president decided to play it cool by donning his usual poker-faced expression, even though he really had this urge to bolt out of the apartment. The only thing that was keeping him sane right now was the dog (Sadaharu, was it?), who looked quite happy to see him, as he kept jumping up to him, as if begging to be picked up. On his hand was a paper bag that contained a huge box of sweet persimmons, as his sister suggested that he bring something to give to them. A high school student was not allowed to buy alcohol anyway [1], and this was more practical, as persimmons were in season, and were readily available.

The blonde lady had beckoned him to follow them, and as soon as they had reached the dining area, he saw Sakata giving him a blank expression…

… and not surprisingly, his heart started beating faster at the sight of her in rather cute casual clothing.

_Sougo, calm down. Don’t screw this up._

“Hi. Good evening.” He greeted her.

She raised an eyebrow at this and he could have sworn he heard her sigh. “… Good evening.” She muttered back. It was obvious that she was struggling to be civil towards him, and he tried his best not to look too amused at the obvious. “Take a seat and let’s eat.”

_And get this over and done with_ , she thought.

The look she gave him said it all: she wanted him to leave immediately after dinner; that much was obvious, and he couldn’t blame her.

On the other hand, he wanted to make the most out of his stay. Who knows when he would be asked to go for dinner again in their place?

_I’d better make the most out of this._

As soon as they were at the table, Okita lifted the paper bag up. “Sorry but… hope you will like it.” He said, handing it over to Tsukuyo.

“No, it’s fine, you didn’t have to bother—”

He shook his head. “I insist. Please.” Sougo aimed the shopping bag near the older woman’s hands, his gaze never wavering. “It’s the least I can do for all the trouble you went through for this.”

Sighing, Tsukuyo said, “… Well, if you insist…” she trailed off before getting the bag from him. “May I open it here?” at his nod, the blonde woman took out the box inside the bag and unwrapped the  _furoshiki_ that concealed the item. Upon seeing the items inside the box, she grinned.

Persimmons were one of her favourite fruits, and because they were in season, she appreciated the gesture even more.

“Thank you for this.” She patted Sougo on the head. “That was very thoughtful of you.”

“No problem.” He said, nodding at her.

“Let’s save those persimmons for later, shall we? I’m really hungry.” The silver-haired man, the head of the household, announced, taking a seat at the head of the table. On his right sat his wife, while his classmate sat across from her mother’s. Just when he was about to take the seat beside the older woman, Sakata Gintoki immediately said, “I think it’s better if you’ll take the seat beside Kagura. Better if you two are side by side so you can talk.”

He could only gape at the odd request, while his classmate’s head snapped to the right as soon as her father was done talking. “What?!”

Gintoki promptly ignored his daughter. “Come on, sit down already. I’m starving!”

Hoping that she wouldn’t stab him with a fork while they were seated next to one another, he pulled the chair as quietly as possible and sat down immediately.

This was going to be very interesting night.

* * *

Needless to say, everything worked out well for Sougo during dinner.

Her parents asked questions about him, his family (he omitted the part about his nephew and simply talked about him and his sister), his school life (“I heard from Kagura that you’re the student council president. That’s impressive for someone who’s only in second year high school!” gushed Tsukuyo, and automatically, his face heated up from embarrassment.), and his plans for the future.

“Well… I’d… want to do something I’m really good at. I… I haven’t really planned out everything yet, to be honest.” He said truthfully.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I didn’t decide on my major until I got to my junior year in the university.” Gintoki said, waving a hand at him and picked up the steak knife at the same time. “Though that doesn’t mean you should follow my advice.”

He nearly laughed in response.

“Better start planning. Honestly, this is the first time I’ve heard the student council president having no ambitions for the future.” She shook her head. “Not that it’s a bad thing, but it’s just…”

“Weird?” he supplied.

“Something like that.” She shrugged. “Well, even our Kagura hasn’t decided yet if she should become a veterinarian or become a media person.”

“ _Mom._ ” The vermillion-haired girl, who had been so quiet during dinner, had finally spoken up and was now  _staring intently_  at her mother, who simply smiled at her.

“Oh, come on. He’s been doing all the talking, so we might as well include you in it,  _right_?” she winked.

“… I guess so.” His classmate said through gritted teeth as she not-so-gently stabbed her bite-sized steak with a fork before shoving it in her mouth.

Seeing that she was now part of the conversation, Okita tried his luck. “Never knew you wanted to become a vet. That’s… unusual.”

She shot him a sideways angry look. “What’s it to you?” the younger girl snapped.

He shook his head, though Sougo felt a bit… frightened. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Compared to me who doesn’t even know what to do with his life, yours is pretty much decided already.”

Kagura raised an eyebrow at his wordings, clearly at a loss at his admission. Sighing, she shrugged and continued to eat.

_‘Can’t believe the smartest jerk in my year happens to be the one who lacks direction in life.’_

The irony was so clear that she was so tempted to embarrass him, though by doing so, she was going to make her parents look bad. In the end, she simply kept her mouth shut by busying herself with eating, all the while ignoring the itch inside her cast.

Feeling the tension in the air, Tsukuyo said out loud, “So, will there be a cultural festival this year? We were disappointed to find out last year that it got cancelled.”

“Yes, of course.” He said confidently. “So far, everything’s going smoothly.”

Gintoki perked up. “Looks like you’ll be celebrating your birthday in school, Kagura.” He said.

“Yay.” She replied sarcastically.

Okita took it as a sign not to talk about the upcoming event in the dinner table, but it seemed as if her parents did not notice her discomfort, for Tsukuyo asked about what their class would be doing, and he promptly gave an answer (“We’ll be doing a cosplay café.”). Immediately, the mother’s eyes lit up in happiness and asked if Kagura was part of the waitresses who will be serving the guests.

… But not before making a mental note to himself about her birthday.

“… No, mom. I’ll be in-charge of the menu planning, but that’s it. I might stay in the kitchen to help those who will be cooking so I’ll probably see you and dad after the café is close.” She said, poking the meat on her plate before eating it.

“Well, if anything, we’ll be going. It’s been a while since I went back to that school.” Tsukuyo sighed happily.

Sougo gave her a confused look. “Wait a minute… a-are you an alumna…?”

“Yes. Both me and Gintoki are alumni.” She smiled. “It’s funny how it all worked out… he and I used to go there, and now, our daughter.”

Sougo  _did_  find that amusing, though he kept the thought to himself. “I see. In that case, I hope you two can drop by and visit the café.” He told them as he finished up his plate. “Thank you for the meal.”

Gintoki himself was also done. “Dessert?” the silver-haired older man asked, grinning.

The sandy-haired young man braced himself. “Alright.”

* * *

Kagura shouldn’t be getting herself worked up over very minor details, but she just couldn’t help it.

Who wouldn’t get pissed?

The strawberry brownies that she baked for her new friend Soyo ended up being devoured by that jerk, who was already happily munching on his fourth brownie. Both her parents were on their second brownie, while she was eating only one, and as much as she wanted to be stoic about this whole thing, it was getting hard to do so.

Especially when he kept praising the pastry that she made.

Surprisingly, whenever he praised her, she felt  _disgust_.

Why wasn’t he eating the sliced persimmons that he bought anyway!?

_He could at least helped him with those, and not my brownies!_

“These are really good! Who made these? Never knew you could make strawberry brownies!” he remarked earlier while he was on his third piece.

“Kagura did.” Gintoki informed him as he finished his own dessert. “Ah, one more. Tsukki, please.”

Sougo turned to his side and faced her, smiling a bit. “These are really good, Sakata.” He complimented, careful not to use her first name, as it might give other people  _the wrong idea_  about their relationship. It did feel a bit odd that he was calling her by her last name when there were two more people who had the same family name as her, but at least when he called her ‘Sakata’, it was obvious who he was referring to.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and proceeded to nibble on her brownie silently, wanting him to go away already. Glancing discreetly at the clock in their living room, she realized that it was only eight in the evening, and this made her groan inwardly. She was sure her parents would want him to stay longer… while she wanted him gone.

Kagura knew she sounded  _whiny_ , but it wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t stand him  _at all_.

She might sound like a broken record already, but iy was hard to forgive someone who was the reason for the cast on her right arm.

“By the way, Okita-kun, do you live around here?” her mother ask.

“Ah, no. I live in the Meguro area [2].” He replied. “It’s not too far from Setagaya, actually.”

_Please tell him to go home already,_  was Kagura’s silent plea.

“Do you have a ride home?” Gintoki asked.

“… Yeah, I do.” Was it her imagination, or did his tone change for a bit when he mentioned his ride home?

“Well, if that’s the case, then I guess you can stay longer. It’s been a while since we’ve had company, and you’re very much welcome to stay as long as you like.”

The look on Sakata Kagura’s face was of pure horror as soon as her mother announced those words.

_Hell no…!_

* * *

Two and a half hours later, at half past ten, Okita Sougo felt… bliss.

He went to the dinner just to return the gesture, but he had to admit, he ended up enjoying every minute of it. Despite the fact that Sakata would glare at him and roll her eyes at him every time he so much as looked at her, he really enjoyed the company. Growing up as an orphan, he never really knew his parents well, for they died when he was really young. It had always been him and his sister during his growing up years, and in all honesty, she was more of a mother to him than a sister; it was only now that she was playing the role of a big sister, which he was thankful for.

He had to admit, the silver-haired permed father of hers cracked the funniest jokes and one-liners, while her mother was a very kind and hospitable woman. To have parents like them was truly a blessing, in his opinion.

Admittedly, he envied her for having parents like them… and for having a big family to spend time with.

The only thing he could complain about would be Sadaharu ‘harassing’ him in the form of kisses (the dog had attempted to give him a French kiss, but it was a good thing he shut his mouth completely), but it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.

The twins (how could he forget them?), who were brought to the living room at nine, were wide awake when they were settled down on the futon in the living room. As soon as they saw him, the female twin, Kaguya, began screaming, waving her arms excitedly while her male sibling simply contented himself with staring at him with his amethyst-colored eyes. The Sakata couple found this amusing and asked if he wanted to hold Kaguya, which he had declined.

The killing intent that he felt all the way from the couch, where his classmate was sitting, was becoming more than he could handle.

As much he did not mind holding another baby in his arms, he did not like the fact that Sakata will grow to hate him more.

He didn’t want that to happen.

Excusing himself to go to the toilet, a beep echoed throughout the bathroom as soon as he entered it, and Sougo knew it was time for him to leave. Tapping the screen of his mobile phone, he read the message.

**_‘Just parked the car. Go down.’_ **

“Looks like my ride is here.” He announced to all of them in the room after finishing his business in the toilet. “I’ll… take my leave then.”

“We’ll go down with you. Kagura, is it alright if you watch over Sadaharu and the twins for the meantime?” asked Gintoki.

“Sure.” As long as she didn’t have to be the one to escort him downstairs, she was more than okay with staying in their apartment.

After Okita wore his shoes by the entrance of their apartment, he and the husband and wife pair went down the stairs of their apartment building. As soon as the younger man saw the red-colored car by the main road perpendicular to the Sakata family’s home, he knew it was his ride. Immediately, his mood soured, knowing that he had to endure at least a half an hour ride with the person he hated the most: Hijikata Toushirou.

Grudgingly, he made his way to the vehicle.

Hijikata must have seen him on the right side mirror, for the driver side door opened and out came the father of his nephew. “Oi Sougo, what took you so lo—” the student council president, who was staring down on the ground, nearly raised an eyebrow as he looked up at the sight of a shock-faced Hijikata, his mouth open in shock, as he was rarely the type to show emotions. Automatically, he looked right behind him…

… only to see Sakata Tsukuyo mirroring the same look as Hijikata’s.

Beside her, Gintoki’s expression changed from nonchalant to stern, which had puzzled him greatly.

_‘What the—’_ Out loud, he asked in a cautious tone, “… Do you… know one another?”

Gintoki gave out a forced laugh. “You could say that.”

Hijikata sighed. “Tsukuyo, I mean,” he coughed, seeing the silver-haired man’s blood red eyes turn menacing upon the mention of his wife’s given name. “She and I—”

“He was my old boyfriend.” Sakata Tsukuyo blurted out. “Toushirou and I… we used to date one another back in college.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] A high school student was not allowed to buy alcohol anyway – legal drinking age in Japan is twenty, and Okita is only seventeen in this fic, therefore, he’s not allowed to buy liquor.
> 
> [2] Meguro area – a special ward located in Tokyo. It’s mostly a residential area.
> 
> Just a bit of a trivia: when one gets invited to a Japanese person’s house, it is always a must to bring a gift. The rules when it comes to gift giving is a bit tricky, so if you want more information, go ahead and Google it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, everything's going smooth-sailing... at least, for the time being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a year since this fanfiction was first posted. Thank you all for the support. :)

“Sakata, if you’re trying to piss me off by showing that sad excuse for an output, you’re doing it right.”

Kagura had finally gotten some time to start on her class’ menu for the upcoming cultural festival, but on her fourth attempt to get Okita Sougo’s approval for the menu she had come up with, he had shot her down for the fourth time as well.

Honestly, there was no satisfy this sadistic jerk who simply loved to make her suffer.

“What the hell is wrong with it this time?!” she asked in a rather heated tone, wanting to know what the heck she did wrong to make him reject her work for the fourth time. She found it tedious that he kept on asking her to revise her work without bothering to explain to her what was wrong with it, and it irritated her to no end that he expected her to know what he wanted to put there.

“I already told you what I thought of it yesterday: it’s a piece of crap, and you’re not using that brain of yours to come up with better ideas.” He said casually. “You made little to no changes, especially since the only part you bothered changing is the drinks list. I told you to make it simple, but you’re making it much more complicated than it is! Didn't I already tell you to go to those cafes and get ideas from there?”

She blushed in embarrassment. How the hell did he notice that she hardly made any changes to it…?! It was just her luck that this kind of guy was the type who read and notice  _everything._  “… Then if  _you_  think everything I do is wrong, then do it yourself!” she was  _so_  not going to spend her allowance on those expensive cafes if there was an alternative.

Her parents needed the money now more than ever.

“I have more important things to do for the school festival.” He stood up from his desk and shook his head. “I was wrong about you, Sakata. I thought you were capable of doing a simple task; guess you’re too  _dumb_ to figure out the answer.”

He dodged a punch that was aimed his way. Thankfully for him, her other arm was still wrapped in a cast, which meant that she wouldn’t be able to punch the other side of his face. Despite fully recovering from the injuries he sustained from the cast bashing incident, he really did not want to get into yet another trouble with her. “You’re not gonna solve the problem with hitting me, you know.” The tone in his voice was enough for her to stop in whatever it was that she was planning, which was to throw in another punch with the same hand. Still, it did not stop her from glaring at him.

“Then tell me what I should do!”

“No. Use your brain.” And with that, the class representative headed out of the door, making his way to the student council office, leaving a very angry female classmate to curse at him.

* * *

“You shouldn’t treat the girl you like so badly, you know.”

Okita rolled his eyes at the comment, but did not look up from the paperwork he was working on, which happened to be another event proposal. “Shut up, Imai. Mind your own business.” was his automatic reply.

Why do girls kept on sticking their noses on issues that don’t concern them?

He particularly hated it whenever someone tried to give him advice on Sakata Kagura.

He knew he wasn’t exactly a gentleman, but Sakata wasn’t a delicate thing herself. She challenged him, always questioned his method of doing things, and that was exactly  _why_  he didn’t treat her as a girl. Hell, she might even find it insulting if, one day, he suddenly treated her  _like a girl_ , complete with honorifics attached to her last name.

“It becomes my business when she comes running to me because you’ve been such an asshole.” Nobume had been surprised when, during her lunch break, while on her way to the council room, the vermillion-haired girl had ranted right then and there, in the hallway, about Okita Sougo being a total jerk towards her. The secretary of the student council sighed at the thought of Kagura wanting to inflict harm on the guy, at the risk of getting another detention and delaying the recovery of her broken arm, as long as she could hurt him. “May I remind you that you’ll never be able to win her affection if you keep on treating her badly.”

Finally, he looked up to meet Imai Nobume’s poker-faced stare. “Just because I like her doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on her. If I say her output is crap, it really is.” He explained. “I know Sakata is smart; she’s just not using that head of hers into good use, especially since her menu draft tells me that she’s been slacking off on it.”

Nobume shook her head.  _This guy really can’t comprehend women. Give her a break._  Out loud, she said, “… Speaking of which, you’ve been particularly vicious at her for the past few days, and Shimura and I are wondering if… something happened between you two.”

“Nothing’s happened. I just don’t like her output for the cultural festival and I had high hopes for it.” He said a little too quickly, hoping that Imai wouldn’t notice it.

In all honesty, he  _did_  have a bone to pick with her… or rather, her family, to be more specific.

Thankfully, she did not, though her next words surprised him. “Then help her out with the research part.”

“No. She has to learn.” He argued.

She rolled her eyes in response. “Okita, if you want this done immediately,  _and_  to your liking, you’ll need to help her out.” Nobume sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Can’t believe I’m even saying this because I thought you’re smart; I guess not.” Quickly, she added just before he could yell at her, “Invite her to go on a… ‘café research’ of sorts. By accompanying her and guiding her throughout the whole process, she will have an idea on what to put on your class menu.”

“I’m too busy. Why don’t  _you_  do it?”

Nobume slammed her hand on the desk, startling him. “… Are you that  _dumb_? I’ll be blunt then. Ask her out on a date, on the pretense of it being ‘research’. Now, if you’re not gonna take this chance, then let her continue on hating you.”

… Which was how he found himself in Akihabara, of all places, on a Friday afternoon, with Sakata Kagura, seated across from him, her vermillion-colored hair tied up in a messy bun. From his viewpoint, she looked happy enough as she ate some  _katsu_  curry, using a spoon on her left hand (but not without some difficulty) while he settled with omelet with rice. He had opted to take her to a maid café, the traditional one, as he could not bear to be in a maid café where the maids were too perky (especially the ones who forced you to do ‘moe’ things), everyone was too loud, and the atmosphere too noisy [1]. The one he chose was one of the earliest maid cafés established in the area, and everyone was keeping to themselves, as the maids only approach you when you call them.

Honestly, he was in no mood to face Sakata right now, as it had been nearly two weeks since he came over to her house for dinner. That had also been the exact same time since he found out that Hijikata and Tsukuyo knew one another, had dated one another… and were so familiar with one another that they were on first-name basis.

During that time, he felt as if someone threw a bucket of ice cold water over him upon hearing the casual confession of the blonde lady that she and the father of his nephew knew one another. The way Sakata Gintoki reacted towards Hijikata had been hostile too, as if he regarded the other man as someone who would steal his wife away. As soon as they had gotten inside the car (after coldly reminding Hijikata that he and his nephew had to be home before midnight), he remembered asking pointblank, “Is she the reason why you won’t marry my sister?”

Hijikata chose to ignore him that night and directed the conversation towards his nephew instead, who was now sound asleep; even if Hijikata had tried to change the subject him, he took the diverting tactic as a ‘yes’.

_Can’t believe her mother is the person Hijikata can’t have._

“Hey, if you’re just gonna ignore me, I might as well leave.”

He looked up to see Sakata frowning at him. Before he realized it, he placed a hand over her left wrist, gripping on it gently. “Don’t.” he said.

To his surprise, Sakata’s face had turned a bit pinkish, and he mused to himself privately that she still was a girl after all, and something like this was simply not done. “… T-then talk to me or something. You’ve been staring at the condiments the whole time, you know.” She informed him.

He blinked, wondering how she had noticed him spacing off. “… Sorry. I got distracted.”

Kagura coughed a bit. “Umm… you can let go of me now, you know.”

Immediately, his hand flew away from her wrist. “Sorry.” He muttered.

She waved her non-injured hand, telling him it was no big deal. “… Not that I need to know, but is the workload… getting stressful?”

“A bit, yeah.” He admitted. “And the upcoming  _kendo_  competition—”

“Oh, you do  _kendo_?” she interrupted him. At his nod, she smiled, and it made his heart beat just a bit faster. “That’s cool. I’ve always wanted to try  _kendo_ , but I’m not good with handling a  _shinai_  or a  _bokutou_.[2]” She confessed.

“Why not?” he wanted to know.

“… ‘Cause back when I was a kid, I was playing around with some  _kendo_  equipment, and I accidentally stabbed dad in the throat.” She shuddered, remembering the time she had knocked out her father for several hours and making him sound hoarse for some days. Until now, she had felt guilty about it, even though Gintoki had encouraged her to take kendo lessons… though with him watching over her several meters away, and it prompted her to punch him in the arm. “It… wasn’t a good experience.”

He tried not to laugh, though it came out as a snort. “That’s… amusing.”

“Mom does find it funny too.” She chuckled. “I was only seven back then.”

Sougo managed to conjure an image of a seven year old Kagura in his mind, waving around a  _shinai_ before stabbing the silver-haired older man in the throat, and he bit his lower lip, trying to control himself from laughing. “I… see. Still, if you want to watch the trainings, you’re free to do so. Just don’t distract the  _kendo-ka_  during practice.” He said, though it was more for himself. He knew that the effect she had on him always turned him into a nervous wreck, but thankfully, it was more of an internal turmoil for his part. Sakata rarely took any interest in him, or rather, in anything that he did, and this sudden change of mind (and probably heart as well) was a bit overwhelming for him to take in.

“I’ll have to see.” She said. “I’ve been… a bit busy, with the twins and all.”

“You’re free to visit anytime.” He said a bit too quickly, not wanting her to change her mind.

“Sure.” She nodded. “By the way, can I just ask why you asked me to go here with you? And to a maid café, of all places. Honestly, no one in our class except Soyo-chan and Shinpachi invites me out.” Immediately, her eyes narrowed at his direction.

“Is this some kind of practical joke where you had a bet with someone to take me out just so you can show to everyone that I’m actually not as icy as everyone says I am?”

He found her comment so absurd that all he could do was shake his head. Hell, he couldn’t even laugh out loud at her logic. “… Sakata, you’ve been reading way too many  _shoujo_  manga. And to answer your question, no. Remember when I told you to do research on the café menu?” at her puzzled nod, he continued. “That’s the reason. Obviously, since you don’t want to spend a single yen on cafés, I decided to take you to one.”  _And probably disguise it as a date as well,_  he added privately.

“Ah. Great. Can I order more?”

“Go ahead.” He tapped his wallet absentmindedly, knowing that it was clever of him to prepare a lot of cash, as Shimura (how the hell did he know about his intention of taking Sakata out anyway?) advised him that she had a very…  _hearty appetite_ , and that he might need to bring extra cash for the, as he called it, ‘date’. “Eat.”

“Thanks!”

* * *

After his wallet felt five thousand yen lighter and a bit of lecture from him on how to make a café menu based on both the things they have eaten and the menu book they have spent hours reading over and over, they made their way to the main avenue of the district, as they were on their way back to the train station. It was already half past eight, and most of the stores were already close for the day. The only ones that remained opened were some maid cafes and the amusement centers that were opened until past midnight.For obvious reasons, they weren’t going to stay past that time period, especially since there were no trains after midnight, and both of them needed to go home. As they walked past a game center just near the station, she tugged on the white sleeve of his summer uniform. “You go on ahead. I’ll stay here for the meantime.” Kagura said.

“Where are you going?” he wanted to know.

“Gonna play some games before going home—”

“I’ll go with you.” He said.

“But—” she could not understand why she felt nervous all of a sudden, though the girl suspected that it was because she did not want him to see her fail in her crane game attempts. She was not good at it, but after seeing a cute plush toy that looked a lot like Sadaharu hanging from one of the machines, she knew she just had to get one, at the expense of probably some two thousand yen.

“It’s fine, really. I’m not expected at home early.” His sister, Mitsuba, had informed him that she and Hijikata would be meeting up, with Nozomu in tow, for an advanced birthday celebration, and would probably be home after midnight.

Honestly, he'd rather spend his remaining time with Sakata and go home alone than see all three of them playing family, which almost always made his mood turn foul.

What was the point of it all when the guy himself did not want to marry his sister?

It was stupid, really.

“Besides, I need to keep an eye on you… high school girls in game centers at night will attract the perverts…” he muttered under his breath, knowing that it was better to keep at eye on her just to keep the males from trying to pick her up.

School girl fetishes never die, after all.

He mumble something that she was unable to catch, though she did not press on the matter further. “… Okay.” She said, turning for a bit and heading for the game center. Inside, she immediately made her way to the crane machine where the item she had been eyeing on was currently balancing on a hook atop a rubber sphere that the crane needed to push down on the prize box below. She took out her wallet, removed some two thousand yen paper bills and fed the paper money on the coin exchange machine…

… and braced herself for the challenge ahead.

* * *

Some thirty minutes and a thousand five hundred yen short, she was nearly on the verge of giving up and keeping her remaining five hundred yen coin when Okita said out loud, “Let me try.” Slipping a five hundred yen coin in the slot (he used his own money, to her surprise), Kagura held her breath as her male classmate had six attempts to push the cute stuffed toy down the prize box. As he busied himself with trying to push the item down, upon closer observation, she realized that the toy  _did_  look a lot like Sadaharu, from the white fluffy ears, down to the furry white chest… and she wanted it more than ever.

For once, ever since the incident where their relationship had taken a turn for the worse, she wanted Okita Sougo to win.

Unfortunately for her, on his sixth attempt to push it down the prize box, he had failed… and as much as she wanted to blame him, she couldn’t. Sighing to herself and feeling very much disappointed, she was ready to march off to the train station when he tapped her shoulder. “Not yet. Give me ten minutes… can you wait by then?”

Her eyebrows furrowed at this, and as much as she wanted to tell him that Tsukuyo was already waiting for her at the store in Shibuya, she found herself nodding. Checking her phone, she noticed that Tsukuyo had sent her a message, telling her to go home on her own, as she and her father needed to settle something.

Kagura hoped that it wasn’t too serious; she  _did_  notice the strain between them ever since that dinner night, and despite them reassuring her that the matter would be settled, she was still afraid of the possibility of them divorcing.

She wouldn't allow that; not now, when her dad was finally able to smile wholeheartedly, and not the forced ones he would give her back when she was a child, the ones that her naive little self failed to see that hid the hunger and the stress he was going through at that time.

“It’s fine. I can stay until before the trains stop for the night.”

“We won’t be staying that late.” he assured her.

Sougo proceeding to slip a single one hundred yen coin in the machine. At her puzzled look, he tapped the first button to move the crane towards the hook that was used to hang the toy. As he tapped on the second button, the sandy-haired young man hoped that his estimations in moving the crane vertically were correct, and with that single coin he used, the stuffed toy would fall down…

… and fall down, it did.

The machine sounded as soon as the toy hit the bottom of the prize box, and instantly, he felt relief… followed by a sudden warm body pressing against his. Sougo was stunned when Sakata wrapped her left arm around his neck, squealing, “You did it!!! You did it!!!” over and over again, all the while stomping her feet in excitement as one of the attendants of the game center walked over to them, smiled, and proceeded to open the cabinet to retrieve the soft plush toy that he had managed to win. Feeling his face burning at the curious stares of the people around them, he kept his hands perfectly still on his sides as he let Sakata scream to her heart’s content. Her body pressed against him was enough to make his head spin, as this was one of the many things he did not expect to happen when he asked her to accompany him to Akihabara after school on a Friday, as everyone knew that Sakata could not stand him, but now…

All he could say right now was that he did not regret this decision  _at all_.

“Here you go!” said the female attendant as she handed a plastic bag containing the dog plush toy to Kagura, who was still hugging him. Awkwardly, he patted her back lightly to signal to her that the attendant was waiting for her to grab the bag.

“Uh, your stuffed toy.” He told her.

Kagura had let go, much to his relief and disappointment, and began hugging the stuffed toy still inside the bag with her left arm.

 “Congratulations!” the attendant said before fixing up the toy that fell to position it correct for the next player.

“Thank you too!” she beamed happily before turning to Okita. “That was really unexpected! And with just one coin too!”

“… Luck.” He managed to say out loud, his head still unable to process what just happened.

It was unreal, all of it.

Sakata did not like him.

She couldn’t even stand him.

And yet, she hugged him, out of her own free will, just as soon as he managed to win the prize for her.

He seriously needed to think this through.

“Can’t believe I’m saying this to you, but thanks a lot, Okita!” her toothy grin was enough to undo him, and all he could do was manage a nod at her direction while trying hard to control his face from turning red from embarrassment. He afraid that he might say the wrong thing, or his voice would falter and make him sound weird. Instead, he chose not to say anything out loud until he was sure he had managed to calm down. “I’ve been trying to get this for a long time, but I guess I lack the skills.” She added.

“… It’s luck… and just a bit of skill and money as well.” He repeated after a few minutes. “Anyway, let’s get going. It’s getting late, and it takes an hour to get to your place from here, right?” at her nod, he started walking immediately, a bit too fast in his opinion, but he did not want her to see him grinning like an idiot.

He had an image to uphold, after all.

* * *

While Sakata Kagura and Okita Sougo were entertaining themselves over at Akihabara, earlier, at exactly half past seven, Sakata Gintoki walked inside the establishment that his wife owned, looking very grim.

He wasn’t one to brood over something so trivial, but he had been in a rather foul mood ever since that dinner night. Despite him and Hijikata working in the same company (in different divisions, thankfully), and knowing that he used to date his wife, he was really not comfortable with exes in general… especially since Hijikata had been the boyfriend during the period that Gintoki had long wanted to forget, yet couldn’t.

How could he, when that period of his life had also been one of the best things to ever happen to him?

He did not regret his decision even until now, though he knew that Tsukuyo did; they did already make amends and made up for the lost time, yet…

He heard the door to the office close, and out came his wife, who jolted the moment she saw him.

“G-Gintoki…” she muttered.

It had been difficult, the past few days. He had opted to stay in the living room couch, as he did not want to bring the fight to the bedroom. He suspected that Kagura had her suspicions as to why both him and Tsukuyo were a bit cold towards one another, though he had to admit, it was more of a problem on his end. “Hi.” He gave her a weary smile. “Thought I’d… come and visit before Kagura gets here.”

“She’s out with a classmate over at Akihabara.” She told him. “Shall I… tell her to go home on her own?”

“Yeah. This might take awhile.” He told her. “You’ve closed shop now, right?” at her nod, he said, “Good. Then let’s end this.”

When he saw Tsukuyo’s amethyst-colored irises suddenly panic, he waved a hand. “No, no, no. No divorce. I meant… let’s just… settle this… problem.”

“It’s not really a problem, to be honest. More like you got intimidated by Toshirou's, I mean, Hijikata's presence, for whatever reason—” just before she could finish her statement, the silver-haired man interrupted her.

“Who wouldn’t be? You dated that guy after you dumped me, remember?” he asked her sarcastically, satisfied at the way her cheeks burned in embarrassment. “As far as I know, he’s not yet married, nor does he intend to get attached, despite those office rumors of him having a kid out of wedlock. Point is, you left me  _once_ , and I think you’d do it again, if given a chance—”

“I  ** _will not_**  do that.” She told him angrily. “I know better now… and there’s no way I’d throw about my life right now with you, Kagura, and the twins over something so trivial. That guy… no, Hijikata Toshirou was once part of my past, but he’s simply that: a man whom I used to date.” At Gintoki’s raised eyebrows, she sighed.

“Make of it what you will, but I do regret the time I dumped you… all because I—”

“It’s fine.” He said impatiently. “It’s done… my little girl is all grown up now… and it’s been sixteen years since all of this happened. That point in my life was both the worst thing and the best thing that happened to me. I lost you back then… but having Kagura in my life pushed me to become a better man, even probably a mediocre father, but a father nonetheless.”

It hurt her to hear him admit that his daughter was far more important than her, but Tsukuyo supposed that it was also her fault; besides, how did one take the news of a boyfriend suddenly having a child out of wedlock? [3] It would always be a normal reaction of a woman to dump the man immediately, especially since it was pretty obvious that he was cheating on her. However, it would take years for her to finally realize that everything was not what it seemed… and she had always regretted that action she took on the day he told her that he was now a father.

“It’s because you raised her well. I heard stories of course, and… somehow, she managed to make you realize that you actually have a direction in life.” She informed him.

“I sound noble all of a sudden.” He chuckled. “That’s what happens when you take on three part-time jobs at once, all the while taking care of a baby and trying to pass university exams. Men simply do not take care of babies, but hey, I never was the type to follow the norm… and it’s better than starving to death, or even freezing to death.”

He will never forget the time he was unable to pay for utilities because of the lack of money, and the  _kotatsu_  in his apartment was rendered useless, as there was no electricity. He spent the whole night keeping his child, who was only ten months old at that time, warm with a combination of both fleece blankets and warmth-inducing clothing. As a result, he ended up having to nurse a cold for nearly two weeks, all the while studying for the final exam in his university.

Despite all of it, he knew it was all worth it.

Tsukuyo grew silent, unable to say anything anymore. He had never talked to her about this part of his life, and she with hers, especially during the time period she was dating Hijikata, but to hear him say things about making sacrifices for the sake of his child was enough to make her feel regret over the choice she made years ago.

“… But with you assuring me that you won’t leave me… or the kids… that’s all I need to hear.” He sighed before managing a smile. “Think you can still bear to live with me and—” immediately, she enveloped him in a hug, all the while trying not to let the tears stain the suit he was wearing.

“Of course. You, Kagura, Kaguya, and Kintarou… you’re all my life now.” She said softly. “It may seem like simply sticking with you all to make up for lost time, but… it’s not. If there’s one regret that I have, it’s not standing by you when you needed me the most.”

“It’s fine. Any woman would dump a guy as soon as they hear that he’s a father to some kid out of wedlock.” He patted her head. “I just… well, I know you’ll stick with us no matter what. Sorry about… earlier.” Despite herself, Tsukuyo chuckled, knowing that her husband was someone who never apologized unless it was absolutely necessary.

“It’s fine. Truth hurts, right?” at his nod, she hugged him tighter, kissing him on the lips.

“I’m happy with my life now. I don’t have any regrets getting back together with you.”

* * *

After parting ways with Okita at Shibuya (he was taking a different train from her), Kagura managed to get a seat on the line she was taking, despite it being a Friday night. Right after putting on her headphones to block out the noise of the people around her, she sighed softly to herself while clutching both her bag and her stuffed toy.

Okita Sougo was making her feel a lot of conflicting emotions.

The guy had been responsible for making her miserable during her high school years, especially since he forcefully stole her first kiss weeks ago, though it confused her when he suddenly became…  _nice_. She grimaced at the thought of putting him together with the word ‘nice’, but it was really all confusing. It seemed as if he was hell-bent on hating her, then right after, he suddenly got all friendly, even treating her to a maid café, which was usually not done by other people, unless they were a couple—

To her mortification, she felt her cheeks burn at the thought of them  _dating_.

It was impossible; he was the guy whom everyone admired, while she was touted as the troublemaker who couldn’t get along with most people.

Him and her together… the thought of it was simply  _repulsive_.

But still, for him to win her that stuffed toy, and with his own money even…

The jerk in him would’ve kept the toy from her, would even probably tell her, “I won it, it’s mine.”, yet he gave it to her without any conditions. She could swear that he even looked embarrassed after she thanked him, and—

_‘Oh damn, I hugged him without thinking!’_  for good measure, she slapped her cheeks lightly, trying to fight down the warmth that was slowly making its way to her face, but failed.

_She hugged him_ , and damn it, her brain was going overload over the information,  _especially since he smelled so good_ —

_‘Kagura, shut up. That was nothing to get excited about.’_

Despite telling herself that, it was impossible not to. She had managed to hug the most handsome guy in their year, and to her relief, Okita did not even use it against her, yet another surprising thing that made her wonder if he was feeling alright today. It unnerved her that he was being nice, and at the same time, she found herself feeling relieved that he wasn’t picking on her for whatever reason. Shinpachi  _did_  advise her to be nice to him today, despite the fact that he did things that she disliked, and as soon as she narrowed her gaze at Shinpachi, her eyeglasses-wearing classmate said, “Give him a chance. Why not start over again?”

Why not indeed?

If dad and mom got back together without hesitation, why wouldn’t she give the guy another chance anyway?

She knew he was not responsible for her broken arm, but still, she felt bitter that he just stood there without doing anything, which she had informed him during the time they were at the café. He stonily nodded at her the whole time before they left, and she wanted to break the tension in the air by giving him some time alone… which did not happen, as he won her the plush toy at the game center. Even during their ride back to Shibuya, she felt the tension in the air… and it only eased when they stepped off the platform. While everyone else was transferring to the other train lines, he stopped her from going up the escalator.

_“Wait.”_

_She looked back at him._

_“… What now?”_

_“… I’m sorry for what happened to your arm. I really am.”_

_To say that she was shocked was an understatement. Still, she kept her composure and her jaw from dropping as he rambled on and on about how he should’ve done something to help her back then. He looked like he was about to pass out, so she said, “It’s fine. I… this will be removed soon, so it’s fine.”_

_He looked like he wanted to say more, but she shook her head. “Seriously, Okita, it’s fine. Go home. You’ve had a long day.” She smiled slightly._

_“Right. Well, then… guess I need to get going now.”_

_“Wait.” If he was going to apologize, he might as well do everything properly now. “You forgot to apologize for one more thing.” At his puzzled look, she took her chance._

_“Apologize for stealing my first kiss.”_

Kagura wasn’t surprised when he refused to apologize for it, though the next scene had somewhat taken her aback, for when she asked him why he wouldn’t, his pale face turned a beet red before saying, “… Why should I apologize for something I enjoyed…” upon realization that he uttered something that was supposed to be meant only for his ears, he muttered a quick ‘bye’ before disappearing into the crowd. Sakata had wanted to give chase, but she was way too tired right now from all the excitement today… not to mention that she couldn’t wait to hug her plush toy in peace as soon as she got home.

Still…

What the heck did he mean by ‘something I enjoyed’? She sure as hell did not enjoy that, especially since he forced it on her, but she was more concerned by what he meant by that line.

… Did Okita Sougo have feelings for her?

She blushed at the thought.

_‘I hope not.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] "... as he could not bear to be in a maid café where the maids were too perky, everyone was too loud, and the atmosphere too noisy." - most of the maid cafes in Akihabara have this kind of atmosphere, but the first ever maid cafe established in that area (Cure Maid Cafe) is the quiet type where the maids are dressed conservatively and speak softly.
> 
> [2] shinai / bokutou - the former is a bamboo sword used by kendo-ka while the bokutou is a wooden sword also used by kendo-ka. An example of a bokutou would be Gintoki's very own Lake Touya.
> 
> [3] besides, how did one take the news of a boyfriend suddenly having a child out of wedlock? - Japan is still a very conservative society. Single mothers are looked down upon by most, and children born out of wedlock are almost always treated badly. Most women who get pregnant end up going for abortion instead whenever the guy who knocked them up suddenly go into hiding (I heard from my boss that 6 out of 10 Japanese women have had an abortion at least one.). The only way for the child to be legitimized under the eyes of Japanese law is for him/her to be registered in the father's family registry.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer is coming to an end, and it's their one last shot to have fun before school begins again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went crazy and went from 7k words to 9k words. Whoops my hand slipped. I should've posted this before the end of August, but it got a bit crazy on my side, so here you go, albeit late. ^^;
> 
> All my thanks to tangerinespectre of Tumblr for giving me ideas and for beta reading this monstrous length of a fic orz
> 
> For keisatsuu of Tumblr, who had been waiting for an update. Here you go. ^^
> 
> Lastly, to each and every reviewer of this fic: thank you so much for patiently waiting. Here's the next chapter! :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. It belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

* * *

 

Immediately after a Saturday lunch during late August, Kagura proceeded to her room, her mother Tsukuyo in tow, to help her get dressed in her new  _yukata_.

It was the last week of festival season, and like everyone else, she was determined to spend her final summer break with friends and enjoy the biggest fireworks festival in her area. What made her happier was the fact that she would be able to fully enjoy the event, as the cast on her right arm that had rendered her very uncomfortable for a good month been finally been removed during the second week of August, which coincided with the twins' first monthly check-up.

… And to her surprise, during that time, the person she least expected to be there appeared before her.

_"… What are you doing here?" she asked him._

_Okita Sougo shrugged as he neared her. "… Your doctor did say before that I have to accompany you—"_

_"I already told you it was not necessary." She snapped back._

_He continued on as if she did not interrupt him. "And your mom called me, asking me to go to the hospital because she said you might need the company."_

_As to how her mother got a hold of his number had not been her main concern as of the moment, but the fact that her mom had been kind enough to think of her well-being during the removal of her cast had warmed her heart, despite the fact that Tsukuyo had chosen the person she was least closest to._

_Right now, her parents were busy with the babies, as they were waiting in line for the checkup, and they left her to deal with the whole thing._

_Frankly, she was_ scared _._

_It was illogical, really, for a sixteen year old to be scared of getting her cast removed, when it should have been during the cast attachment that should have scared her but… she just couldn't help it. She wanted to hold either mom or dad's hand when the removal happened, but they were too busy with her younger siblings and—_

_Gritting her teeth, she took a deep breath and began to walk towards the doctor's office, vaguely aware that he was trailing behind her._

_There was no way in hell she'd show him that she was scared._

… Looking back, however, it wasn't as if she didn't have any fun a week ago, when Soyo threw that late birthday celebration at the hotel, her first cast-free event even, but—

Fireworks were a different thing altogether.

Soyo's late birthday party celebration was a formal event, as it was held in a fancy hotel, with everyone all dressed up in their formal attire, while festivals were all about having fun eating and staring at the pretty fireworks that would go high up in the sky. Even if one did not have a  _yukata_ , it was fine to go around in a  _jinbei_  [1] as well.

Festivals also meant buying a lot of food from the food stalls, trying out the goldfish game, getting prizes from the shooting gallery… she had been happily awaiting this event ever since her cast had been removed and after she had gotten permission from her parents to go out on her own with her friends.

Despite being someone who kept to herself, she  _did_  have friends, albeit very few, as she preferred a small circle over having a lot of acquaintances. For today, she would be having fun with Shinpachi, Soyo (who had also been allowed to join them, as her bodyguards would be watching them from a safe distance), Nobume-sempai, and, to her surprise and dismay, Okita.

… Sure, she danced with the guy during the masquerade ball, but that was it.

He was nothing special.

… But why was she getting nervous over it?

"Something on your mind?" her mother asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Oh, uhh… just… thinking about what to eat later." It was half the truth anyway; she couldn't wait to eat  _takoyaki_  again.

"I see." Tsukuyo smiled. "Mind if you run down again who you will be with tonight?"

"Well, there's me, Shinpachi, Soyo-chan, Nobume-sempai…" at this, she took a deep breath. "… And Okita."

Tsukuyo couldn't suppress the surprise in her voice as she began wrapping the two-toned light pink  _obi_  around her daughter's torso. "Oh? You two are finally getting along now?"

"… Shinpachi invited him." She  _did_  want him  _not_  to join their group for this year's fireworks festival, but she had to grudgingly admit that Shinpachi getting outnumbered by the girls would not be the best way to spend his Saturday. He may be okay hanging out with her at times, but it was evident that he would prefer to keep his sanity intact by inviting a guy whom he got along with, who happened to be Okita Sougo.

As for her, she had no choice but to tolerate him for the rest of the night.

… Besides, if he did anything funny, there were three other people who would witness it.

"I see." Tsukuyo nodded. "Just don't do anything that will ruin your festival experience."

"You should be saying that to him, not me." She grunted.

Tsukuyo smiled, amused. "Then please tell him not to ruin  _your_  festival experience." After securing the  _obi_ , she then placed the pre-made bow at the front, and tugged it around her daughter's waist until it was located on her back.

"There you go. All done." Tsukuyo beamed at her.

"Thanks mom!" in her excitement, she hugged her mother, who hugged her back, chuckling.

"Now go have fun."

* * *

He was rather excited for this year's fireworks festival.

All in all, he had been to three festivals thus far, and for this year, it had been fun. As a child, this was one of the times when he and his sister could spend time with one another, especially when she began working, and were hardly seeing one another. During the  _Obon_  holidays, she was given the whole week off, and they made it a point to spend as much time together as possible.

This year, however, one festival he went to nearly made him resent the supposedly happy season.

Not only did that bastard Hijikata ruin it, but the recent one that he had gone to, his sister just had to invite  _that guy_  with them. Just so Nozomu could spend time  _with his father_. Even if she knew that there was no chance of him and Hijikata ever getting along.

Sougo dearly loved his sister; he did.

But it was beyond him as to why she was still clinging on to the man who never had any intention to marry her, and was likely to never change his mind about it.

Sure, he gave Nozomu his last name, but that was it.

Okita Mitsuba was desperately in love with Hijikata Toushirou, while that bastard was in love with someone whom he could never have, in the form of Sakata Kagura's mother, Sakata Tsukuyo, who seemed very happy and very much in love with the silver-haired guy, who loved her back.

The whole thing reeked of elements taken from a drama series, and as much as he wanted no part of it, he was pretty much stuck in it, as even  _he_  had his own  _shoujo manga_  love story to deal with.

To his advantage, as far as he knew, Sakata didn't have any feelings for  _anyone_ , which was a good sign, but it still did not mean that she was okay with him.

… But at least she was slightly warming up to him, especially when he accompanied her to the doctor's office when her cast got removed.

_When the nurse called her name in the waiting room, she stood up immediately and robotically began to walk towards the doctor's clinic._

_He promised that he would simply wait until it was over, but then, upon seeing her looking so grim made him think that leaving Sakata to her own devices was not a good idea… especially since he noticed her turning really pale as she made her way to the treatment room. Seeing her shaking slightly, he followed her line of sight. The cast saw, as soon as he saw it, made him wince. It was a nasty-looking thing, and he knew if the doctor was incompetent—_

_"W-why are you following me?" she said upon realizing that he followed her. "G-go back to the waiting room."_

_"… Sakata, you're shaking." He resisted the urge to put a hand on her shoulder. "I don't think you can handle this on your own."_

_"Shut up, what do you know?" she asked him harshly._

_He sighed, clearly not in the mood to argue. "Look, you're trembling… and you don't have to put a front." Before she could argue, Sougo said, "Your hands are shaking, and I'm sure it's not from the cold." Even with the air-conditioning unit, it was still warm inside._

_"Ms. Sakata?" the nurse called out. "This way please."_

_He did not trust her to go on her own, so he trailed behind her, much to her irritation._

_His guess became true when, as soon as she sat down on the hospital bed, she turned paler. Sakata looked like she was about to faint, and he was afraid that she might do just that. Immediately, without thinking, he grabbed her left hand with his own left hand and began squeezing it gently, shoving all possibilities that after this, their shaky relationship might go back to square one. To his surprise, she suddenly buried her forehead against his shoulder._

_"Shall I proceed, Ms. Sakata?" asked the elderly male doctor._

_"Yes." She said, her eyes still shut._

_When the saw began to cut open the cast, she visibly winced and stiffened, her free hand squeezing his own rather tightly, but it wasn't anything that he couldn't handle. As much as possible, he was only there to hold her hand, nothing more. No thumb rubbing against the back of her hand, as it might make her more uncomfortable, and that was the last thing he wanted._

_For now, he would just do his best to get her to calm down._

She couldn't look at him straight in the eye after the cast removal incident, but at least she managed to mutter a 'thank you' right after he accompanied her to meet her parents.

That, along with a surprise lunch and dinner out with her family, made his day.

… Somehow, he felt pathetic for rejoicing over something so simple, but interactions between them had been far and few. Before summer break, they hardly saw one another, as he was busy with  _kendou_  practices, while she did her own thing (according to Shimura, she was part of the 'going home club' [2]). There were times where she visited the dojo to talk to Shimura, but he was too preoccupied with a match versus an upperclassman to even look at her.

At the back of his mind, he hoped that she would try and notice that it was him sparring with an upperclassman, but a guy could dream.

On the last day of school, they didn't even manage to greet one another a happy break (like everyone else did when they were leaving school), as he spent the remaining time in school finalizing the details of the school festival just so he wouldn't have to deal with it during summer break.

It worked, but of course, that meant a rather boring summer break, as that meant he didn't have to go to school (not that he wanted to). He didn't go to the beach, nor did he go around the shopping centers. Instead, he took care of Nozomu, who had been rather excited and happy at the prospect of 'Sou-chan' being able to play with him every single day, which he followed through with, much to his nephew's delight. The only time he and Nozomu went out was when they were eating at a fast food restaurant or when they went to the park to play catch, assuming that it wasn't too hot. The last thing he needed was staying cooped up at home for the whole summer, taking care of a sick Nozomu.

Other than that, his summer had been pretty uneventful, until he received a call from her mother regarding the cast removal, which had been a very surreal experience for him.

A week after the hospital trip, just when he thought he would swore off festivals for this year (way to damper the mood after Tokugawa Soyo's birthday celebration), Shimura had contacted him, asking him if he wanted to attend a festival near his place.

Shimura, being the sly guy that he was, used a trump card. "Oh, I forgot to tell you… Kagura's gonna attend too."

Before he could stop himself, he said 'yes'.

And now, at four in the afternoon, he was already in the area, as he was left on his own during  _Obon_ , all because Hijikata just had to be an ass and his sister took this as yet another opportunity to spend time with him, taking Nozomu along with her. He only had a slice of bread for breakfast, and he needed a heavier meal, like  _takoyaki_  or  _yakisoba_.

He was going to use two hours he had to eat before the meet-up.

The last thing he wanted was passing out during one of the few chances he had in hanging out with Sakata.

* * *

The fireworks were to start at 7 in the evening, but everyone had decided to meet up at late in the afternoon, around half past five. Kagura, however, went early because she wanted to check out all of the stalls.

Specifically the food stalls.

Grinning to herself, she bought ten pieces of  _takoyaki_ , all for herself, and was just about to try and look for a seat where she could enjoy eating her good until she saw Okita, all alone, the seat across him empty. Just her luck, all of the tables and chairs laid out on the open field were taken, the single seat left unoccupied would be the one across from him. She still could eat her food while standing up, but it was awkward to do, since the  _takoyaki_  were unsteadily placed on the plate, and were also in danger of falling if she wasn't careful with the way she ate. The drawstring pouch inside the brownwoven bag she was holding on to required one hand to hold it, as she couldn't slip it over her arm.

This was a dilemma… and even if there was an easier way to deal with it, she would do it.

… And it meant swallowing her pride and asking Okita if she could sit across him.

Utterly defeated, she slowly made her way to where he was eating, and she called him. "Okita."

The student council president looked up from his food and nodded. "Sakata. You're early." Despite the coolness in his tone, he nearly jumped at the sight of her.

If he worded every single thing he could think of, it would be highly out of character for him; for now, 'cute' would suffice. Clad in a pale yellow  _yukata_ , the peach-colored prints of flowers (he had no idea what the name of the flowers are), contrasted nicely with the color of the cloth. The lighter shade of pink in the  _obi_  she wore matched the color of the flowers, which Sougo thought complemented her outfit properly. A light pink cord was tied around the obi as well. Her hair was tied up in a huge bun on top of her head, which was her usual style whenever they saw one another at school, but this time around, a red-colored corsage was placed on the left side of her head, just above her ear.

She sat down across from him, sighing. "I wanted to eat before the meet up."

"Same." He said, gesturing the plates of  _yakisoba_  he had been eating. Curiously, there were red condiments found on top of the dish.

"… Are those chili flakes?" she asked. At his nod, she raised an eyebrow. "You like spicy things?"

"I grew up eating spicy food." He told her.

She wondered just how it was possible for someone like him to down something so spicy when she herself didn't really like it. "… So I guess you like  _kimchi_?"

"Yeah, I can eat that. It's better in winter though." He told her as he ate his  _yakisoba_  with so much gusto with chopsticks. "Warms your body because of the spiciness."

She wouldn't really know but she guessed that she had to take his word for it. "I see. It's been too hot lately though… do you still eat spicy food during summer?"

"When the craving gets bad, I do eat at times. But as you've said, it gets really hot, and with the weather right now, it's not a good idea." He finished his plate and piled it up on the side. "For the meantime, I'm keeping it at a minimum."

She nodded, eating her  _takoyaki_. Because her mouth was full, it spared her the nearly-forced conversation with him.

Honestly, until now, she did not know what to make of Okita Sougo.

Kagura could probably point it to the fact that he had been horrible towards her since their junior high school years, then finally going out of control when they got to high school. While everyone else around her grew up and started maturing both physically and emotionally, Okita did not, and why he had become student council president with that kind of immature attitude was beyond her. It may have been because of his charm, and the fact that he was the only student who ran for president, especially since the upperclassmen did not bother to run for any student council position. Another reason why they did not join was because their very own upperclassmen were the very reason why the school did not have a school festival during her freshman years, and had been powerless to even try to give the school a festival that they deserved.

With Okita having the school under his spell at the start of their term just last April, it had been easier to make fun of her. Upfront bullying was not done by him, but his idiotic fangirls did the job for him. While he was sorry for her arm, she knew he wasn't sorry about what he had done for the past few years.

Besides that, who knew when this would last?

He could start the bullying again when they get back to school.

That was what she feared the most.

"Tell me honestly, Okita." She said right after swallowing her food. At his questioning look, she asked bluntly, "How long is this gonna last?"

"Huh?" he gave her a confused look.

"Being nice to me." She gave him a hard look, her sapphire-colored eyes turning cold. "You can be nice all you want during summer, but that doesn't mean you won't do it again when school starts."

He wasn't exactly caught off-guard, but for her to open this topic, of all the times…

He might as well be honest about it.

"Sakata, believe me, I've thought this over, and I have decided to actually be nice this time around towards you—"

"What's your guarantee then?" she asked him, suspicion heavy on her tone.

"Look, I know you don't exactly trust me." He began. "But maybe it won't hurt if you stop suspecting me of doing some prank that will endanger you."

Seeing her retain her cold stare, Okita sighed. "I doubt I can do anything today to prove myself, as Shimura and the others will be keeping an eye on me, no doubt."

"I'm keeping my eye on you too." She reminded him. "Don't forget that."

"Feel free to do so." He challenged her.

"Glad we're agreeing on this." And with that, she began to devour her food mercilessly.

* * *

By half past five, all of them have finally met up at a lesser crowded part of the festival grounds, which happened to be at the end of the stalls. In the end, Imai Nobume had not been able to make it ("Sorry, I don't feel well" was the message she had sent to Kagura), while Shimura Shinpachi and Tokugawa Soyo opted to get dressed in casual clothing, when everyone had agreed to wear  _yukata_.

"Sorry, I didn't get to buy." was Shinpachi's excuse as he proudly stood before them, without any hint of remorse, flaunting his outfit, which consisted of a pair of jeans and a shirt.

"I always go to the toilet, so a  _yukata_  is problematic for me to wear." Soyo, on the other hand, wore a red tanktop under a short-sleeved white jacket. She wore black-colored leggings over her shorts and on her feet were a pair of rubber shoes.

Seeing them not in traditional wear made her realize that only she and Okita were dressed in  _yukata_.

Somehow, it bothered her.

Not to mention Shinpachi was grinning at her knowingly.

"Looking good, you two." Shinpachi remarked.

When the hell did she and Okita become some kind of combination set?!

She ignored his remark. "Maybe we should go and find a spot already." she announced to everyone.

"Yeah, I think we should." Soyo nodded. "It'll start in an hour, and we need to start looking for a good spot."

"Let's start moving then." Shinpachi nodded. "Lead the way, Kagura. You know this area more than me."

She  _had_  been living around this area since she was born, after all.

"Okay. The spot by the river near the train station is a good place. Follow me." She told everyone. "Also, let's all stick together. We might get lost."

As they began to walk, it was becoming evident that it was getting crowded as more people began to arrive. It wasn't called the biggest fireworks festival of her area for nothing, as it was one of the more popular ones in Tokyo. Fortunately, the area was spacious, and it meant there were plenty of spaces to choose from. She had a particular one in mind which was a bit far off, but it had been the usual area where she and Gintoki would go to during the fireworks festival when she was little. Knowing that her friends were still following her, she walked and walked…

… until someone tugged her  _yukata_  sleeve.

She looked back to see Okita frowning at her. "… I can't find Shimura… nor Soyo." He told her.

"W-w-what!?" panicking, she opened her drawstring bag to grab her phone.

"Not gonna work." He told her. "Service is down. Believe me, I tried."

She looked at him in disbelief until she checked the default screen of her mobile phone. To her shock, there was no signal bar on the upper right side. "W-what the—"

"Too many people this year." He told her. "It happens."

_'Don't tell me it just happens!'_

As if reading her mind, Okita shrugged. "You probably have seen news reports about Comiket having bad signal. That's what's happening right now, actually. Too many people, the mobile carriers can't handle the amount of traffic. They probably did not see this coming." [3] He informed her. "They would've at least contacted the mobile companies to help boost the signals, but I guess not."

He felt awful seeing her look so devastated over the fact that their two friends were nowhere to be found and that she wouldn't be able to contact them. Coughing, he asked her, "So… what now, Sakata?"

_What now indeed_.

She wanted to hang out with them, but was stuck with Okita Sougo, of all people.

… But still, it gave her an idea.

Why not torture him by dragging him around the stalls? She was itching to play a festival game that involved shooting targets, and if she was lucky, she could shoot him with a cork bullet, then claim that 'it was an accident'.

Hopefully, there was one such stall… or if not, she could always do the goldfish game and use the flimsy scooper to splash water on his face 'accidentally'.

"I'm going to play some festival games." She told him.

He nodded. "Lead the way then. I'll just follow you."

She smirked inwardly.

_He fell for it._

At this, she turned left and headed back towards the crowd…

… only to get herself led in all directions humanly possible.

The crowd had gotten so thick in the gaming and the food stalls that it was hard to navigate around. It didn't help that she was shorter than the average Japanese female, so the crowd swallowed her… and it was getting harder to breathe. The same old air that everyone else was breathing made her gasp, and as much as she did not want to faint, she was in danger of doing so…

… until someone grabbed her arm.

Looking up, she found Okita tugging her out of the crowd and into one of the small spaces in-between the stalls, where she let out a sigh of relief as she felt fresh air enter her nostrils. "Sakata, don't push your way in so reckless. You might get lost." He was thankful that he was tall enough to see where she was, or he could have lost sight of her just like the others.

"… I think you should probably lead the way this time." She muttered, angry at the fact that she was short and that the crowd was becoming her enemy. This has never happened to her during the last few festivals, but as her companion had said earlier, it was more crowded this year. She opened her bag again to see if the signals were back, and as expected, there was a red-colored 'x' on the place where the signal bar should be.

"Where do you want to go anyway?" he asked. "I need to know where I'll be walking to."

"Shooting gallery." She said simply.

He nodded. "I think it's better if you hold on to my sleeve while we walk."

Privately, she grimaced at the thought of touching him more than necessary. Both the masquerade ball and the cast removal incidents that involved touching him was enough to last her a lifetime, but this time around, it couldn't be helped. The crowd was so bad, and if she wanted her shooting gallery time, she had to endure this little trial. "Fine." Slowly, she held on to his right sleeve and he started walking towards the crowd once more.

The shooting gallery was still far off from where they were located, which was at the starting end of the sixty stalls that were set up for this year. Thirty stalls stood face to face towards one another and in the middle of the stalls was the pathway to get to them. Unfortunately for her, the one she was aiming for was the twenty-fifth stall, and they were currently at the first stall.

This was going to be hell, and she knew it.

Gulping, she held on to his sleeve tighter as he pressed his way to the crowd. Almost immediately, she nearly got swallowed by the sheer amount of people who were walking opposite of her. Screaming, she tried to grab on to Okita's sleeve again, only this time, she managed to grab his whole arm, and ended up hugging it with her left arm.

Without looking back, he said, "Hold on." loud enough for her to hear before making his way towards the crowd.

_'What have I gotten myself into…?'_  she thought to herself, wondering if there was some deity out there playing a trick on her by forcing her into these scenarios with Okita.

This was  _not_  what she was hoping for to happen today…!

Far from it!

Okita, on the other hand, had nearly jolted at the physical contact. As soon as he heard her scream, he immediately slowed his pace and began backing away. He knew she aimed for his sleeve, but ended up hugging his whole arm. A blush made its way to his face, and, as not to embarrass both of them, he ended up not looking back at her and simply yelled out instructions loud enough for her to hear that he was going to start walking again.

Somehow, the setup was making him feel like…

… they were a couple.

The sandy-haired young man knew he was deluding himself because it was impossible at this point (a guy could dream anyway), but the fact that they were on their own because their friends got separated from them, and her clinging on to him for dear life because of the thick crowd made it feel like they were a couple on a festival date.

It didn't help that a lot of people saw festivals as an excuse to have a romantic date. [4]

The scenario was giving him false hope, but for the meantime, he would simply have to… make the best of it. He would keep his hands to himself, he would walk in a pace that she was be comfortable with, he would bring her to the stall she wanted to be at, and wait for her until she was done, no more, no less.

… Yet it still made him feel like they were on some date.

He clenched his left fist in frustration.

He needed a break. And some time to think.

* * *

On her third attempt on the shooting game (she had already won once), Okita was still telling her not to leave.

In fact, he simply stood slightly behind her, clad in his light amber  _yukata_  with a black-colored  _obi_  with red-colored horizontal stripes tied low around his waist, his arms folded, looking at the way she was shooting her target. She wasn't really that good at shooting games, but she wasn't one to back down from a nice game.

"You're not going to play?" she asked him.

"Not really, no." he shook his head.

She smirked. "No good at it? Then I'll challenge you."

He gave her a confused look. "Are you serious?"

She placed two 500 yen coins on the table of the stall they were in. "Bring it on."

Shrugging, he grabbed the toy gun resting by the counter, and the stall owner handed him a small cup that contained five cork bullets. The targets were around three meters away from them, and though it may look easy to target, the cardboards that named the prizes were hard to knock off the two-layered shelves. Cocking the gun, he placed one cork bullet at the barrel and aimed at one of the cardboards.

After firing, the cardboard that said 'x1 stuffed toy' fell down to the ground.

Kagura looked at him in aghast. While she had had fifteen attempts earlier, the only thing that she won were packets of tissue, as the only thing she had hit was the cardboard that said '1 set pocket tissue'. Angry that he was better at her in this shooting game, she cocked her own gun and fired at the cardboard nearest her.

She'd show him.

In the end, Okita won two stuffed animals, while she won two as well.

It may have been due to her sheer determination to beat him at all costs, all because it did not sit well with her that he would best her  _again_  in a game. The crane game was embarrassing enough, as she was unable to do it all on her own, and had to rely on him to get her the stuffed toy that she wanted. It also felt as if she owed him something, and it made her really uncomfortable.

Okita Sougo was the last person she would ever wanted to feel indebted with.

After choosing the stuffed toys that she wanted (two brown-colored dogs for her siblings), the stall owner then asked him what he wanted, and he had chosen a brown-colored cat and a white-colored dog. After placing the stuffed animals inside their respective plastic bags, the stall owned thanked them, and they moved on to the next stall, which was located near the far end of the row. By this time, the crowd had thinned somewhat, but it was still enough to drag her along with them. Frustrated, she ended up grabbing on to his arm again, while he made his way to the far end of the stalls.

"Where to?" he asked her.

"Wherever you want. I'm fine anywhere." The crowd had stressed her out so badly that it was showing. Beads of sweat were running down the sides of her face, and she looked like she wanted to simply give up and go home.

"Let's rest for a while." He told her. "Let's move on to the less crowded side of the festival grounds."

"Okay."

By the time they had reached the less crowded portion of the festival, she was slumping. When he asked her if she had a fan with her to keep herself cool, she shook her head, then cursed out loud. "Damn it, I knew I forgot something."

"Use mine." Before she could say anything, he handed her a black-colored folding fan from his sleeve. To her surprise, he had a drawstring bag hidden inside his  _yukata_  sleeve all along. "You thirsty?"

"… A little, yeah." She admitted. She did not tell him that she wanted to eat as well, because the crowd by the food stalls was something she did not want to deal with.

She was tired, thirsty, hungry, and she was disliking the crowded area already.

"Wait here. I'll get drinks." Before she could stop him, off he went to the direction of the food stalls.

Damn it, but today was supposed to be a day out with her good friends.

Why did it feel like a date between her and Okita…!?

To her horror, she felt her face turn red at the thought of them  _dating_. It was a natural reaction, of course, as she had zero romantic interaction with the opposite sex, and the guy was, dare she say it,  _actually_  nice to her all throughout the night. It was simply easy to leave her to get led away by the crowd, but he actually backtracked his steps earlier, which lead to her grabbing his whole arm instead of the sleeve, but still…

Vaguely, she wondered if he had some sort of ulterior move in doing this, but when she realized that her mind couldn't think up of one, she felt puzzled.

It all did not add up.

Okita Sougo was one of the guys she couldn't stand, yet somehow, her perception of him was changing.

She did not like it one bit.

_Not at all_.

There must be something he was planning, and she was going to find out.

Sakata Kagura was so engrossed in her thoughts that she failed to notice a rather sleazy-looking fellow just near her. In an instant, she found herself knocked over by the man, who had grabbed her drawstring bag containing her wallet, her mobile phone, her commuters' pass…

… Her bracelet…

Horrified at the thought of her childhood memento getting lost for good, she tried to get up, but failed, as her legs were shaking unsteadily from a combination of tiredness and anxiety that was working its way into her body.

Her bracelet…!

_No!_

Before she could stop herself, she felt the tears running down her face.

"Sakata?!" alarmed, she looked up to see Okita staring at her, each of his hands holding one bottle of  _Ramune_  soda [5]. "What happened?"

"My bag…" was all she could manage before she started crying and hiccupping at the same time.

While she was bawling her eyes out, Okita Sougo suddenly saw red as soon as he scouted the figure of a man running frantically, holding the brown-colored handle of the familiar red-colored drawstring bag that she had been holding all throughout the festival. With the bottles still in his hand, he ran as fast as he could towards the direction of where the thief was, but unfortunately for him, the man was faster, for he was not dressed in the usual festival attire, as he looked like he had prepared for it.

Angry that, of all people, he had to target Sakata, he raised his right leg and kicked as hard as he could towards the direction of the thief, his right  _geta_  sailing away.

Just his luck, the wooden  _geta_  had hit the thief squarely at the back of the head, causing him to fall. Grinning to himself, he cautiously made his way towards the thief, who seemed like he had been knocked unconscious. Hastily, just in case the guy woke up, he put on his  _geta_  and grabbed the bag using his right pinky finger. By the time he walked back to where Sakata was, she still looked visibly shaken, her eyes were red, but was calmer now, and was talking to the police.

When he reached her side, he gave his statement to the police and gave them instructions as to where the thief was. A salute, and they headed to the direction of the thief.

"Here." He held out the hand holding the handle of her bag.

Immediately, she began crying again, alarming him. "D-damn, I'm crying again. S-sorry…" she wiped her tears with the back of her hand, sniffing. "I-I'm just… relieved… that it's back."

He shook his head, indicating that he understood. "Take a seat. You're turning pale again." He said, gesturing to one of the nearby benches. "Are you hungry?"

"I… I lost my appetite." She admitted. "B-but I'll be okay… I'm just glad it's back." grabbing a tissue from her drawstring bag, she blew her nose.

"I'll get you some water." After setting down the two bottles of  _Ramune_ , he went back to the food stall area.

The fact that he had taken back her bag for her…

He had no idea just how grateful she was.

She could have done away with her phone and her commuter pass, as those were easy to replace, but inside her wallet contained the most important thing to her… and it was the very gift that she had received from dad. Gintoki had told her that he had it made for her when she was baby, as he wanted to make sure that if ever someone would think of kidnapping her or if ever they had gotten separated, the authorities would immediately identify her, as her full name was engraved on the silver bracelet, both in  _romaji_  and in  _kanji_. She wore it until it got too small for her, but kept it as a memento. It was her father's first ever gift for her, after all, and despite it looking old and worn out now, she treasured it so much.

Bracelet aside…

Slowly, Okita Sougo was becoming a hero in her eyes, and she was dreading every minute of it.

But maybe, just maybe, she could try and take this chance to  _actually_  trust him, be friends with him even. He had, after all, put his life in danger for her bag. The thief could have been armed and dangerous, and could have knifed Okita if they had a confrontation, but somehow, he was safe. There was no wound on him, though she noticed that his right foot was slightly dirty (probably from the mud?). Even so, he had gotten back her most prized possession for her, and was even troubling himself to get her drinks when she could barely stand without wobbling from the earlier encounter with the thief. She was scared that he might be back to try and retaliate, but at least the policemen roaming around the area had increased.

Sakata Kagura decided that maybe it was time for him to graduate in the relationship department with her.

He would no longer be 'Okita', but 'Okita-kun'.

That, at least, would imply a bit of closeness, but not to close  _just yet_.

It was still too early for a first-name basis kind of relationship.

"Sakata." He called out to her.

Because she was facing the riverbed, she looked back to see him holding a bottle of water in his left hand, and a plate of  _takoyaki_  on the other. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah." She replied, sighing in relief. "Really, I'm okay now. Why don't you sit down?"

He did what she told him, and he let out a sigh. "Here." Okita said, handing her a bottle of water, which she took gratefully.

This was it.

Now or never.

She had to thank him.

"Uhhh… for earlier… I…" her heart was pounding, her hand was shaking, and she tried to calm herself by swallowing. "T-thank you for your help, Sougo."

Realizing that she had just called him by his first name when she had  _specifically_  told herself that it was  _still too early_ to do so, she began to panic. "O-oh damn, I…! Uh I didn't mean to—"

"It's fine." The coolness in his tone made her stop in her rambling. "Really, it's fine, Sakata."

"B-but…"

"Really, it's fine." He repeated, his eyes still looking straight ahead at the river. Was it her imagination, or were his ears turning red? "Call me whatever you like."

She wasn't going to back out on the name-calling.

She called him by his first-name, and there was no turning back.

"Sougo then." She nodded firmly, wondering what the hell she had just gotten herself into. The turn of events were too much to take in for her, and it puzzled her why he had been so accepting of her calling him by his name.

She waited for him to ask her if he could also call her by her first name.

By the time the fireworks had ended two hours later, he still referred to her as 'Sakata'.

* * *

"Where the heck were you guys?!" immediately after the fireworks ended and everyone started heading towards the nearest train station, she found Shinpachi and Soyo standing right behind them.

Shinpachi had the gall to look apologetic. "We lost sight of you so we decided to just hang out around the food stalls." He didn't tell her that he and Soyo had deliberately hid behind the stall areas as soon as his best friend started marching into the crowd.

Their plan to force the two to spend time together in order for them to get along had somehow worked, and he couldn't be more happy, especially since Okita looked content for some reason.

… Not to mention Kagura was still clutching on to a black-colored folding fan that he knew did not belong to her, and was fanning herself.

"You were there all along?! Why didn't you approach us if you did see us?!" she asked them hotly.

Soyo then stepped closer to whisper at her. "… We didn't want to ruin the nice atmosphere between you two." [6] In an instant, Kagura's face turned a bright red.

"T-that's just stupid!" she spluttered.

"I'm rather good at reading the atmosphere, Kagura-chan, and believe me, I really did not want to ruin it by barging on you two." The raven-haired girl whispered again.

"There was  _no atmosphere_ between Sougo and me." She blurted out before she could stop herself. Her horrified face mirrored Soyo's delighted one, and despite the denials, Soyo wouldn't hear of it.

The other girl was practically convinced that it was a date that happened.

Shinpachi, on the other hand, asked the other male in the group, "So, how did the festival go for you?"

"Rather good." was Okita's curt reply, and he knew that that was that.

… He'll just have to ask Soyo for more information later through the messaging app.

* * *

The festival grounds was a rather long walk from where Shinpachi and Kagura lived, but the long walk was something that they all welcomed, as the breeze felt good despite the humid summer. Soyo had been picked up by more men in black suits, and after waving a goodbye to her friends, the trio made their way back to Shinpachi and Kagura's apartment complex. Okita Sougo insisted on going with them instead of heading straight for the nearby train station, and so, they walked.

On their way back, Okita took this time to ponder on what had just happened.

He knew that her calling him by his given name had been something she had not planned on doing. The old him would've taunted her about it, but this time around, just to show her that he had indeed changed, he gave her a choice to call him either by his last name or by his first name. Damn it, but when she referred to him as 'Sougo' for the second time, he felt his heart race.

He went to the festival to hang out with her, and got more than what he expected, the best part of it would be Sakata calling him by his name.

This was one event in his life that he would never,  _ever_  forget, and by far, the best ever festival he had ever been to.

Before he knew it, they had reached the apartment complex, and just when he was about to bid them farewell, Sakata said, "Won't you come up? Mom and dad would probably want to see greet you." At his puzzled look, she pointed at the backside of her  _yukata_ , which were a bit dirty. "They also might want to know why my  _yukata_  looks like… this."

Shinpachi nodded, knowing what happened to her earlier when his childhood friend told him the whole thing on their way back home. "Good idea. I'll see you guys up as well."

He had nothing better to do anyway, so he might as well stay for a bit. Nodding in affirmation, he braced himself for yet another encounter with the Sakata family.

* * *

"I'm home." were the first words she uttered as soon as she opened the door. Immediately, Sadaharu bolted at their direction, first to greet her, whom she had patted on the head. As soon as he sensed that Sougo was right behind her, he jumped up happily at him.

"Welcome home." Tsukuyo said, making her way to the entrance of their home, Kintarou in her arms. "Oh, Okita-kun. Shinpachi. Hello."

"Good evening." Sougo greeted Sakata Tsukuyo, bowing his head at her.

"Tsukuyo-san." Shinpachi said as well, removing his shoes and hugging the lady, who hugged him with one arm. After being released from the hug, Shinpachi then proceeded to poke the baby's arm. "Hey Kintarou. Still awake, huh? It's past your bedtime." The eyeglasses-wearing male chuckled, looking at the clock by the entrance of the door, which read '10:00 PM'.

"They were waiting for their sister to get home, of course." Gintoki said, nodding at the two boys, Kaguya in his arms, who was also wide awake. "Welcome home, Kagura." Upon seeing his daughter looking a bit disheveled, he frowned. "Kagura, what happened to you?"

She sighed. "Let's go to the living room. It's a long story."

It took the girl twenty minutes to explain her side, and by the time she was finish, her father looked so incensed.

"It's fine, dad. Sougo got the bag back for me, and they arrested the thief… it's fine, really." Kagura said.

If the three other people in the room were surprised at her calling the boy she had disliked so vehemently before by his first name, they did not show it. "Well, at least you're safe, and nothing happened to you." Gintoki sighed in relief, shifting his hold of the baby in his arms. To Sougo, he said, "Thank you, Okita-kun. It's a good thing you were there to help her out."

He shook his head. "It was nothing… I just got lucky that my  _geta_  hit the thief and knocked him out."

Tsukuyo tried her best to suppress the grin from her face, but failed. "I… see. Either way, we're very thankful that our daughter is safe and got her bag back, thanks to you."

"Please think nothing of it." He shook his head, clearly uncomfortable at being showered praises by her parents. "I hate to be rude, but I think it's time for me to head out… I need to get back to Meguro."

The silver-haired older man stood up. "I can drive you to your house."

Sougo shook his head. "No need, sir. I'll be okay." At Gintoki's doubting look, he insisted, "I'll be okay. My sister and I will be meeting at the station." It was a lie, but he did not want her father to trouble himself. "We'll be going home together."

"Well, if you say so."

He bowed at her parents. "Thank you for letting me stay for a while."

"Anything for the guy who helped out Kagura." Tsukuyo smiled at him.

"I'll show him out." Kagura said, standing up from the couch. "Mom, here are the toys for the twins." She handed her mother a medium-sized plastic bag containing the stuffed animals before following Okita to the door.

As soon as they heard the door slam shut, Tsukuyo let out a huge grin. "… She calls him by his first name now."

"It surprised me too." Shinpachi stated, grinning as well.

Gintoki sighed. "Please don't tell me they're dating, or I might just need to file a restraining order."

"Shush." The blonde lady scolded him. "Be nice."

"… I'll be on my guard then." Kagura's father declared instead. "But I swear, if he hurts her…"

"You'll make him pay?"

Gintoki shook his head. "Pay? No.  _I'll_  make sure he suffers." At the evil grin, Tsukuyo shook her head.

"Stand down, White Demon." She said, calling him by his childhood nickname. "Your horns are showing."

The silver-haired father shook his head. "Seriously speaking, I have no doubt he won't hurt her but… Kagura's a different matter altogether."

As the sole parent who raised her for several years, he knew his daughter's shortcomings, which included just how oblivious she could be when it came to romance.

Her childhood had not been kind to her, and she saw boys are friends instead of romantic interests.

He just hoped that Okita Sougo wasn't the type to give up so easily.

* * *

By the time they reached the ground floor, Kagura was feeling quite nervous. They had not said anything to one another on their way down, mainly because she herself had yet to process everything that had just happened. It was happening all too fast for her liking, and yet—

"Well anyway, I'm off." he said, snapping her out of her thoughts. Were they walking too fast that they reached the street level already? "See you at school next week, Sakata."

Now was her chance.

_Her only chance_.

Before she lost all courage to do so, she blurted out, "Kagura."

He looked back at her, clearly surprised. "Huh?"

"Since I call you 'Sougo'… it's just fair that you call me 'Kagura'." Was it just her imagination, or was it just too hot out tonight? "Deal?"

He nodded automatically. "Sure." He said. "See you next week then… Kagura."

She thought he would start walking, but backtracked instead. "I almost forgot." He dug out the familiar white-colored stuffed animal from his plastic bag from earlier. "Here."

"But that's yours." She told him.

"My nephew can live with just one stuffed toy." He said. "Besides, you gave yours to your siblings. It's no Sadaharu, but it's still a white dog…"

She looked so hesitant that he shook his head. "If you don't want it, just give it to one of the twins." Without waiting for her reply, he took her wrist, placed the plush toy on her awaiting palm, turned his back on her, and waved. "Anyway, I'm off. See you around."

As she stared at his retreating back, she shook her head in disbelief. The manipulation he did was as clear as day, and as much as she wanted to give it to either of the twins, no doubt, they would fight over it someday.

For the meantime, she would have to take care the stuffed toy that he gave her until the twins were old enough to share the plush toy.

Slowly, she studied the plush toy. It looked similar to the one that she got from the crane game, but funny enough, the eyebrows of this white stuffed animal were upside, and the dog looked like a cross between annoyed and worried.

Chuckling to herself, she decided to give it a name that suited it.

"Komako it is." She whispered to herself, referring to the lion-dog shrine guardians that she had always been so fascinated with when she was younger. Smiling a bit to herself, she went back up to her family's apartment and found her parents, the twins, and Shinpachi still by the living room.

"Oh, another stuffed toy?" Shinpachi asked.

"Sougo said I should give it to one of the twins, but I think they'll fight over it. For now, I'll take care of it until they're old enough to understand what sharing is." She shrugged, grabbing her phone from her bag. Opening her messaging app, she scrolled through the names and tapped on Okita's name. He had been in her contacts for a while, but never bothered to message him.

_Well, there's always a first time,_  she thought to herself as she began composing her message.

'Thanks for the dog plush toy. It's so cute. ((o(｡ω｡)o))' She tapped the 'send' button.

Minutes later, in came his reply.

'You're welcome. ＼(￢ω￢)┐ Glad you like it.'

Upon reading his reply and seeing the  _kaomoji_  that he used [7], she grinned.

At least they were off to a good start… somehow.

She'll just have to learn to trust him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] jinbei - traditional Japanese clothing for summer, which consists of a matching top and a pair of shorts. It is made of either hemp or cotton.
> 
> [2] going home club - a person who has no school activities after classes end are part of the 'going home club'. In Japanese, they call it 'kitaku-bu' (帰宅部).
> 
> [3] Comiket having bad signal - personal experience with this. The loading time of the webpages using my LTE took longer than usual while I was at Comiket.
> 
> For this fic, Okita had to reference it in order for Kagura to understand that the area they were in had very bad or low signal, and that it would be very difficult to contact the others.
> 
> [4] It didn't help that a lot of people saw festivals as an excuse to have a romantic date. - the ones who usually go to summer festivals are couples because of the lovey-dovey atmosphere of the fireworks.
> 
> [5] Ramune soda - carbonated beverage. It's a popular summer drink in Japan.
> 
> [6] "We didn't want to ruin the nice atmosphere between you two." - 'atmosphere' here would refer to the fact that for once, Okita and Kagura were getting along, and they didn't want to interrupt it by being the third and fourth wheel.
> 
> [7] kaomoji - Japanese version of the emoticon.
> 
> \----------
> 
> Hopefully, that was tolerable. Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> This has been turned into a series. Please check the following chapters for more. :)


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